Twenty-Five Days of Christmas
by McKinnon-and-Black-forever
Summary: Twenty-five pairings, twenty-five one-shots, and all to do with the most wonderful time of the year!
1. Firsts: James and Lily

**A/N: Tis the season to be jolly fa la la la la la la! It's that time of year again and this year, I'm going to be publishing a one-shot every day until the twenty-fifth! Here's the first one! I hope you like it!**

 _1\. Lily and James, first Christmas with Harry_

 _Summary: James isn't himself and Lily starts to worry._

Taking care of a five month old baby was not easy. Harry was no exception, but Lily had not expected it to be so much work. Of course, it would be much easier if he didn't take after James. The five month old was already crawling around and finding ways to make trouble. Lily was sure that the cat hated him. James, however, thought it was hilarious.

"Harry!" Lily shouted when she heard the squalling from the other room. She was seriously thinking about rehoming their kitty.

"Relax, Lily," James called as she walked into the room to find Harry hugging the cat so tightly that he might cut off his air supply. "He's just having a bit of fun."

Rolling her eyes, Lily marched forward and removed the cat from Harry's grasp. Gratefully, the cat scampered off to find a hiding place, no doubt. Turning to glare at Harry, she found a smile on the baby's face; it was one that she couldn't resist. When she bent down, she scooped the baby up into her arms and kissed his cheeks.

"You're the most spoiled baby in the world," she cooed. The evening went well after that. Lily finished dinner and the rest of the Marauders stopped by, which seemed to cheer James. Still, Lily couldn't help, but feel that something was wrong with her husband. No matter who came over or how many times he caused Harry to laugh, that twinkle in his eyes didn't return. If she was honest with herself, it hadn't been there for a long time. So when the two climbed into bed that night, Lily decided to do something about it.

"James?" she whispered into the dark.

"Hmm?" was his reply.

"Are you ok?" she asked. There was shifting behind her and then James' arm slid around her waist pulling her back into his front.

"I'm fine, love," he told her. "Why do you ask?"

"You're not acting like yourself," she sighed, turning to face him, even though she could barely make out his face in the dark.

"What do you mean?" James inquired.

"You're not happy," she burst out. "And it gets worse everyday. Even Harry can't make you smile like you used to anymore. I'm worried James. I know you don't like being cooped up, but it's Christmas and I just thought that if you can't be happy this time of year then when can you be happy?" Tears stung her eyes. "I don't what to do this anymore. I've tried to make you happy, but I can't do that, it seems. I'm sorry if you feel tied to us. I'm sorry if you feel like you can't help the Order like you think you should."

"Shh," James muttered, stroking her hair. "I don't want to hear you say that again, ok? You and Harry are one of the few things that make me happy. It's just that. . .I hate being cooped up here! How is anyone supposed to live like this? I look out the window and I see people walking up and down the street without a worry in the world and then there's me. I'm stuck here and I hate it. I hate living like some old hermit!

"But you. . . .you and Harry make my day. You both remind me that sometimes you have to do what's best for your loved ones instead of yourself. That's what I'm trying to do. I may not like it, but I'm trying. I know I've been moody and a bit down lately, but if you can give me a bit more time, I might be able to get myself out of this funk. Alright?"

Lily nodded mutely as she pressed her face into James' chest. He smelled like pine trees and lemons. That night, Lily fell into a peaceful sleep in her husband's arms.

The next morning Christmas was upon them. Lily awoke to an empty bed and immediately hopped out of it. She wasn't sure where James was, but she knew that he was bond to be around here somewhere. After their conversation last night, Lily was sure that they would find a way to make it through this war and finally be a normal family. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she spotted her husband and her son by the Christmas tree peeping at the presents.

"I hope that you weren't intending to open those without me," Lily drawled. James jumped while Harry turned and smiled at her.

"Of course not, dear," James replied, with a smile. "We were just having a peek was all. No harm done. Right, Harry?"

Harry just babbled in reply. Picking up the little boy, James rested him on his hip. Lily smiled at her boys.

The family of three ate breakfast and listened to Christmas songs over the wireless that day as they waited for their friends to arrive. Lily even got James to dance with her around the kitchen. Around five, Sirius and Marlene came through the door, both smelling of smoke and wrapped in leather, but smiling nonetheless.

"Remus and Doe won't be able to make it," Sirius explained wearily. "Remus didn't get back in time and Dorcas was called away on a last minute mission. So it's just us."

Harry reached out for Sirius, his fists clenching and unclenching. Sirius made a face at Harry and picked him then threw him in the air and caught him.

"Why do you always get to hog the baby?" Marlene demanded to know.

"It's not my fault he likes me best," Sirius replied, shrugging. Lily and James shared a look. There was a long time argument among their friends about who Harry liked best. So far it hadn't been settled, mainly because everyone believed that they were his favorite.

"Supper's ready when you're done arguing," Lily reminded Sirius and Marlene. That drew their attention and everyone gathered in the dining room. After supper there was present opening and laughter all around. Lily was sorry to see her friends go when the time came. After they were gone, Lily made her way back up the stairs, knowing James would be in their room after putting Harry down.

When she entered the room, she found him pulling his shirt off with his back to her. Wrapping her arms around him, she rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" she asked.

"A wonderful Christmas," he replied, turning to kiss her. "The best yet. I love you, Lily."

"I love you, too, James."


	2. Drinking: Sirius and Marlene

**A/N: This is a little angsty, so I'll apologize ahead of time for the feels.**

 _2\. Sirius and Marlene, drinking_

 _Summary: Marlene goes looking for Sirius when he disappears after visiting Lily and James' house._

"There you are," Marlene muttered as she stripped off her jacket and sat next to Sirius. Sirius was in a bar and Marlene had just tracked him down. He was hard to find these days since his brother died. She couldn't blame him, really. She knew that if her family were ripped away from her, she wouldn't want to talk to anyone either. She also knew that Sirius would look out for her if her family were killed.

"I don't want to hear a lecture, McKinnon," Sirius snapped at her. "So if that's why you're here you can get out."

Marlene raised an eyebrow. "I didn't come to lecture you. I came to drink."

Sirius eyed her for a minute before calling a waitress over and ordering a drink for her.

"It's Christmas," Marlene stated.

"I've noticed," Sirius replied sarcastically. "Otherwise the decorations would be pointless."

She sighed. "Sirius, when is this going to stop? You're hurting everyone that you care about. James can't come out of hiding to pull you out of the hole that you've dug yourself into. I don't know what you want from us, besides to be left alone, and you know I can't do that. You're not fit to be left alone. I just. . . .I want you to get better. I want to help you, but you're going to have to tell me what exactly it is that's bothering you."

Just then, Marlene's drink arrived and she snatched it from the waiter taking a long gulp before turning to stare at Sirius, who was staring at his drink.

"He died alone," he muttered. "There was no one with him. How could I let that happen? I'm his big brother and I was supposed to look out for him. I messed up. Royally. All I ever wanted was for him to get away from those rotten people, but all I ever did was push him away after he was sorted. It's all my fault he's dead."

Marlene looked around the bar. No one seemed to notice that Sirius was having a minor melt down. Leaning closer, Marlene placed her hand on his arm.

"Sirius, none of that is your fault," she told him gently. "Regulus choose the life he lived and now he has lived it. There is nothing you can say or do to bring him back. I. . .I know that it must hurt to loose him after being estranged to him for so long, but sometimes it's best to mourn and move on. I know it's going to be hard so tonight I'm giving you one free night to do whatever it is you want."

Sirius snorted. "You're giving it to me, McKinnon?"

Marlene nodded. "That's right. Because tomorrow, whether you like it or not, I'll drag you out of bed and make sure you don't see another drop of liquor for a good long while."

"You said I'd get to do anything I wanted," he muttered, a bit of the old gleam back in his eyes. "What if I want to do you?"

Marlene rolled her eyes. There it was again. For years, there had always been this spark between the two of them. Marlene wasn't sure when it arose, only that she woke up one day to realize that she found Sirius quite attractive. Nothing ever transpired from these feelings but flirty comments and suggestive lines, such as the one Sirius had just delivered. Marlene had never thought about taking him seriously before, but this moment gave her pause. It made her think.

At the moment, Sirius was emotionally vulnerable. Marlene had no intention of taking advantage of him. At the same time, a part of her was crying out for her to give into this. It had been months since Sirius had suggested that they sleep in the same bed. To be honest, Marlene missed it. In the end, common sense won out and she decided it was best to play it off.

"Oh, Sirius, you know I'm always off limits," Marlene smirked. She grabbed his bottle and took a swig from it. The liquid burned as it ran down her throat, reminding her of the sting of war. "I'm giving you until tomorrow, Black. Then I'm dragging you out of whatever hole you've decided to sleep in for the night."

Standing up, Marlene brushed herself off before heading for the door. She heard Sirius collapse on the floor behind her. A laugh poured from her lips as she heard him growl under his breath. That charm that tied your ankles together was always useful.

"I'll get you for this, McKinnon," Sirius barked behind her.

"Yeah, yeah, Black," Marlene threw over her shoulder. "I know. Tell me all about it tomorrow."

With that, she pushed the pub door open and stepped out into the cold.

* * *

That night was the last time Sirius ever saw Marlene. She was supposed to come and get him the next day. He expected her to be there bright and earlier, but he woke up at noon and she still hadn't arrived. Immediately, Sirius knew something was wrong. When he arrived at Headquarters, most the members were there, including Lily and James. Their faces told him all he needed to know.

Marlene was never seen alive again. Two weeks later, her family was attacked. The Order was too late to late to stop it. They found the wreckage and all of the McKinnons inside, including Marlene. Sirius saw her body. She looked exactly as she had before she'd left that blasted pub. His mind couldn't help but wonder how many times she had been tortured in those two weeks.

Now, standing in front of her grave twelve years later, the guilt he felt then doesn't lessen. In fact, it intensifies. Tears roll down his face as he stares at the grave of the women he could have loved. Bending down, he runs a hand over the cold stone.

"I'm sorry, Marlene," Sirius mumbles. "I'm sorry I didn't save you. I'm sorry I couldn't find you. I'm sorry I was in that pub that night. But most of all, I'm sorry I never got up the balls to ask you the one thing I always wanted to. I'm sorry I was coward. Guess there's no point in apologizing now."

Once he stands up, Sirius wipes away his tears and transforms into a dog to find the one man who caused all of this.


	3. Missions: Remus and Dorcas

**A/N: Alright, so this is slightly less angsty and I hope you like it!**

 _3\. Remus and Dorcas, missions_

 _Summary: Remus and Dorcas spend the last few hours of Christmas day together._

Remus sighed as he let his body sink to the bed. Infiltrating the ranks of werewolves Voldemort had surrounded himself with wasn't easy. It was time consuming and exhausting. Sometimes, Remus felt like he was going to fall down and never get back up. He knew Doe felt the same way, nine times out of ten.

"Dorcas?" he called softy from his place on the bed.

She hummed in response, before appearing in the doorway. Her hair was tied back on top of her head and she was dressed in one of his shirts, which was far too large for her. She looked absolutely adorable. Remus crooked his finger in a 'come here' motion and she smiled before proceeding to do just that.

Dorcas crossed the room with easy steps before sliding onto his lap. Remus' hands found their way onto her waist and he rested his forehead against hers and let himself relax for the first time in a long time.

Working for the Order was never easy. No one had ever said it would be easy, but somehow, Remus had never expected it to be so time consuming. He was sure that if he asked, Dumbledore would lighten his load. However, Remus could never ask that of his old headmaster. He'd feel like he was letting him down in a way, even though Dumbledore said he could never feel disappointed in Remus.

"Remy," Dorcas muttered against the shell of his ear. "You're lost in dream land again."

"Hard not to be when you're around," he replied just as softly.

Dorcas chuckled. "And everyone calls Sirius the flirt."

"He is the flirt," Remus said. "Besides, you don't see me holding every girl in the country like this, do you?"

"No, and if I did, you wouldn't live much longer," Dorcas mumbled against the stubble of his jaw. "When are you going to shave?"

Remus laughed softly. Dorcas hated it when he didn't shave. According to her, men with beards weren't as attractive as they were without them, and beards were itchy. When he was with the werewolves, he didn't really have time to shave. He'd been back only a few hours now and hadn't thought to shave as of yet.

"I can hear you thinking," she whispered softly against his ear.

Remus was always thinking these days. With a spy in the Order, it was hard to shut his mind off. He was always trying to figure out who it could be. His mind couldn't help but slip back to Sirius, and he hated himself for it. All the evidence pointed to him though. At least, all the evidence that Remus had collected pointed to Sirius. James wouldn't believe him so he didn't even bother suggesting the idea to him. Marlene would have slapped him on the spot as would Lily, and Doe—well, Dorcas probably wouldn't speak to him for a good long while. So Remus kept his suspicions to himself.

"Sorry, love," he muttered. "I didn't mean to zone out."

Dorcas laughed. "You don't have to apologize, Remus. You're always apologizing for something that isn't your fault."

"Well, technically-"

"Hush. I don't want to hear it," she told him, a finger pressed against his lips. "You know it's Christmas."

"Doe, Christmas is almost over," he snorted.

"But it's not over yet," she replied. "It's eleven oh six and I have a Christmas gift for you."

Remus' eyebrows rose as Dorcas descended from his lap and slipped out of the room once again. Flopping back on the bed, he began to count the patterns on the ceiling. It was what he did when he was bored or when he was trying to get some sleep. So when Dorcas returned, Remus was almost out of it.

"Remus!" she whined loudly.

"I'm awake," he answered, sitting up.

Dorcas gave him a look before handing him a small package. With a curious glance at her, Remus started to unwrap the gift slowly. He always like to savor that moment of not knowing what exactly was in the box. Finally, he had removed all the paper to reveal a small blue box. Gently, he lifted the lid and found a watch inside.

"I know your dad never got you one for you seventh birthday because you weren't on talking terms," Dorcas explained. "Everyone should have one. You didn't so I got it for you. Do you like it?"

"Oh, Doe," Remus mumbled, pulling her into his lap again. "I love it. No one but you would have noticed that."

Dorcas smiled. "Well, you hid it so well from everyone and I didn't notice until a few months ago, actually. I thought it would make the perfect Christmas present."

"It does, Doe," he told her. "But all I really needed was you. You know that, don't you?"

"I do now," she smirked, pecking his lips.

Remus chuckled. "Can I give you my gift later?"

"I thought this was your gift?" she replied, looking down pointedly.

"So cheeky," he muttered before standing up and laying her back on the bed.

"Remus?" Dorcas sighed as he kissed down her neck.

"Hmm?" was his reply.

"Promise we'll have more time like this," she demanded.

Remus looked up at his beautiful girlfriend. Her dark skin was shining in the moonlight, which drifted in from the window. Her brown orbs were transfixed on him as she waited for his answer. Her hair was splayed around her like a halo now that he let it out of its ponytail. He could see the bump in her nose where it had been broken several times, and now a healing spell couldn't correct it. Her pointy chin was shifted downwards so she could see him.

A part of him knew it that he could never keep that promise to Dorcas. Tomorrow could be their last day for all he knew. However, he wanted so badly so say yes to her. There was nothing he could say to explain the feeling; it was just there. More than anything in the world Remus Lupin wanted to please Dorcas Meadowes.

"Yes," he replied. "We'll have tons of time to do this."


	4. Engaged: Fabian and Hestia

**A/N: Hello, hello! Guest, no these are not all of the Marauders Era, but that's the era I'm starting with. There is mentions of child abuse in this chapter so if you're not comfortable with reading that please skip this one.**

 _4\. Fabian and Hestia, engaged_

 _Summary: Fabian returns from a mission and Hestia learns some troubling news._

Fabian pushed the door of his flat open. He'd just moved out of the flat he shared with his brother to move in with his girlfriend. He wasn't sure if she was asleep or not, but if she was, he didn't want to wake her.

"Fabian?" Hestia called, standing up from the couch. Apparently, she wasn't.

"Hey, Hest," he winced. "Sorry to come in so late."

She gave him a once over before moving in to give him a hug. Warmth filled Fabian's chest, and he remembered the reason he was with Hestia. She always had these magic hugs that would fill his stomach with butterflies whenever her arms were around him. He couldn't help but he happy when he was close to her.

"Why were you gone so long?" she asked. "I thought something happened to you."

"Nothing happened to me," he told her. "I'm right her."

"I know that, silly," Hestia said, smiling. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Fabian tightened his arms around his girlfriend and rested his chin on top of her head. Slowly, they rocked back and forth, happy to be in each others' arms. Fabian was content to stay in her arms all night, but he knew that if he didn't get to bed soon he'd start to fall asleep standing up.

"Hest," he muttered. "We need to get to bed before I fall over from exhaustion."

Hestia nodded and led him to the bedroom. It hadn't changed since he'd left. It was still as impersonal as before. Just a bed and a few pictures on the nightstand. This was due to the fact that Death Eaters tended to come after him and his brother quite a bit, and if they needed to move out quickly, he didn't want to have to leave personal items behind.

Silently, Hestia sat on the bed as he pulled off shirt and stripped off his trousers. He rummaged through the top drawer before find a pair of pajamas. Once he had put them on, he returned to the bed and sat down next to Hestia. For a tense moment, neither of them said anything. Fabian knew she wanted to know what had kept him. He had said that he'd be home five days ago, and he was usually only off by a day or two on when he would return. She was right; something had kept him from coming home, and he didn't want to tell Hestia about it.

"Just say it, Fab," Hestia prompted him. "Just say it and get it over with."

Fabian sighed. "There were kids. We were spying on this manor—I don't remember who owned it so don't bother asking—but we were watching this manor, and there was a lot of activity. I thought that it was a meeting place for the Dark Lord. Gid and I were sure that we'd be able to catch him unaware and maybe end this war once and for all. So we alerted the Order on a night we were sure he was there.

"He was there, but he got out before any of us could get to him. We took a few Death Eaters with us though. Once everyone had cleared out, we could hear this noise. It sounded like someone crying so we started to search the house. Gid and I took the basement. That's where the sound was coming from. There were kids down there, Hestia. _Kids._ I couldn't believe that people had been this cruel. How could anyone, even Death Eaters, do that to innocent children? I thought a few of them had hearts.

"So there they were, and they were so afraid of us. They cowered from us, begging us not to hurt them and saying they'd be good. There was this three-year-old little girl, and she said that she'd do anything just as long as I didn't hurt her friend. And not all of the kids were alive. Some of them were dead. The Death Eaters didn't even bother to move the bodies. It smelled like death in there, Hestia. And those kids were living in that. Some of them weren't even Muggle-borns. They were Muggles from the next village over."

By now, Fabian had broken down into tears, and he couldn't speak anymore. How could he after what he saw? Hestia hushed him and muttered comforting words in his ear. Fabian clutched her tightly, afraid that if he let her go, she'd disappear. He remembered that room—remembered feeling like he couldn't breath. That could have been one of his sister's kids. It could have been the twins. Another sob wracked his body. Fabian didn't care if men weren't supposed to cry. This felt like an exception to that rule. Besides, Hestia wasn't afraid of his snot.

"Oh, Fab, honey, it's ok," Hestia whispered, tears running down her cheeks. "It'll be ok one day. You saved some of those kids from them. And don't you dare say that you could have saved more. You didn't know that they were in there. But now, thanks to you, they'll survive and go back to their parents. Hopefully, they'll never worry about that evil prick again. Those Death Eaters wouldn't dare take them back after you found them."

"Hestia," Fabian muttered, lifting his head. "I don't know if I can do this anymore, not after seeing that. I don't know how anyone can do what we do after seeing that."

"No one is going to force you to continue with the Order," she said seriously.

"But I can't not be a part of the Order, can I?" he sighed. "I'd hate myself for giving."

"Maybe you can take a break," she suggested. "Just for a little while and then get back to the Order."

"Maybe," he mumbled then he remembered what he'd left in his coat pocket.

Quickly, he jumped up from the bed and went to fetch. After a moment, he turned back to Hestia.

"I was going to wait until tomorrow since it's Christmas, but after that, I don't want to wait." He bent down on a knee. "Will you marry me, Hestia?"

Her hands had flown up to her mouth as she nodded. "Yes, of course."

With that, he slipped the ring on her finger and tried to forget about the horrors he'd seen.


	5. Ending: Gidoen and Emmeline

**A/N: We've got about three more chapters until we get to the Golden Trio Era. I promise all these aren't going to be morbid, but there was a war going on at this time. Blame JKR, not me.**

 _5\. Gideon and Emmeline, ending_

 _Summary: Gideon finds out something about Emmeline that shocks him._

Gideon sighed as he fell onto his back. It was Christmas, and he could not have asked for a better Christmas present than the one he just received. Emmeline sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her knickers over her legs. Gideon smirked at the piece of lace.

Emmeline and Gideon carried on their relationship simply out of understanding. They both knew what it was like to have no way to express your feelings. Rather than take it out on themselves, they took it out on each other between the sheets. While it was a relationship of complete convince, Gideon wouldn't lie and say that he'd never hoped that it would turn into something more.

"You gotta go so soon?" he asked, sitting up and planting a kiss on Em's shoulder. She turned her head slightly so she could see him, a smirk on her face.

"Yep," Emmeline answered.

"That's too bad," Gideon sighed, as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I was planning on having another go before I had to head over to Mol's."

She snorted. "I would imagine she could smell the sex on you, though. She'd tan your hide."

He shrugged. "Maybe, but it'd be worth it."

"And I'd have to find a new shagging partner."

"Too true."

Leaning away from Emmeline, Gideon reached over to the other side of the bed to get her pants for her. When he grabbed them, a photo fell out of her pocket. Picking it up, he saw that it pictured Emmeline and another girl, who had her arms around Em and was kissing her check. Gideon didn't recognize the girl, but he was almost sure that she was more than a friendly acquaintance.

"Gid, would you. . ." Emmeline let her sentence trail off when she turned and saw what Gideon was holding.

"Who is she?" he asked deadly quiet.

"Gideon, listen-"

"Who is she?!" he shouted, turning to face the woman he had been tangled up with mere minutes ago.

His stomach turned as he waited for the answer. Thoughts swirled in his head about who this girl was. She wasn't related to Emmeline as far as Gideon knew. Part of him already knew who she was and why Emmeline had a picture of her in her pocket. Another part of him wanted her to lie to him and tell him it was all just a misunderstanding.

"She's a Muggle," Emmeline whispered. "She doesn't understand what's going on. She doesn't even _know_ what's going on. I can't bring myself to tell her. But, Gideon, it's not like us. It's not like how we are-"

"How long?" he interrupted.

"Gideon-"

"How long?" he demanded.

"Since before we were sleeping together," she admitted.

"Get out," Gideon snapped.

"Please, let me explain."

"Explain? Explain what? How you were using me?"

"I wasn't using you anymore than you were using me."

"I didn't have a girlfriend!"

This seemed to sting Emmeline because she leaned away from him and dragged in a deep breath through her nose. Out of habit, he wanted to lay her out on the bed and fuck her. That was what he always did when everything got to be too much. It was how they ended up in Gideon's bed.

Last night, Emmeline had been one of the ones to help them with the kids. She knew what horrors he and Fabian had witnessed the night before; she'd witnessed them, too. Of course, Gideon was never one to think over these things too long so he and Emmeline had returned to his flat. Now, he wished that they had never started this game.

"Gid, please listen to me," Emmeline begged. "I didn't intend for this to happen, ok? But I don't have anyone who understands what I'm feeling. I don't have anyone like you. You understand. Maybe that's why I started this whole thing, but there's more there now. We don't have to stop this. I. . . .I don't want to. Gideon, please. You have to understand. You of all people get why I can't talk about all the things I've seen. You know how it feels to have those feelings locked inside of you and not being able to get them out. Please, don't take that away from me."

"Emmeline," Gideon muttered, annoyed and deeply hurt. "I told you to get out."

"Please, don't let us end this way," she pleaded.

That struck a nerve. They weren't anything to begin with. How could they end? The answer was they couldn't. Gideon had known this for a while. They weren't in a real relationship. They were just sleeping together, taking their feelings out in a very unhealthy way. Gideon should have known that sooner or later it would have driven them apart rather than brought them together.

"How can you end something that never started?" he asked Emmeline. She looked away from him, but made no move to leave. "Emmeline, I really don't want to talk to you, let alone look at you, right now, so, please, get out."

"But, Gideon, we need to talk about this," Emmeline exclaimed.

"Like we talk about our feelings?" he responded. "Yeah, that'll go over real well."

"I do care about you," she whispered. "I hope you know that. It wasn't just about the sex. It could never be about just the sex when I was with you. You pour life back into everything you touch, Gideon, including me. How do you think I've survived as long as I have? It's all because of you. I don't want to lose you."

"You can't lose something you never had," Gideon snapped.

Tears welled in Emmeline's eyes, and she snatched her pants from Gideon's hands, along with her picture. Quickly, she slid them on and hurried from his flat. With a sigh, he flopped back onto his bed. How had this happened? Why couldn't one good thing in his life stay good?

With annoyance running in his veins, he climbed out of bed and started to get ready for Christmas dinner at his sister's house.


	6. Family: Ted and Andromeda

**A/N: Ok, but I really love these two! Andromeda is awesome, and I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 _6\. Ted and Andromeda, family_

 _Summary: Andromeda deals with her daughter, and Ted helps her out._

A crash sounded from the other room and Andromeda sighed. 'I'm sorry' was shouted as her daughter continued to run around the house. Andromeda wasn't sure which was worse: having a daughter who ran around and broke things, or having a Metamorphmagus for a daughter. Of course, Nymphadora's abilities were a gift, but Merlin, it was a hassle to find her in public. (Her daughter was one of those people who thought it was funny to give their mother a heart attack by changing their appearance and disappearing into a sea of people.)

"What have you done this time?" Andromeda demanded to know as she started toward the living room.

"Nothing," she replied innocently, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Right," Andromeda muttered. "So I'm starting to hear things, am I?"

"Yep," Nymphadora agreed. "That's exactly it."

Andromeda rolled her eyes and scanned the room. The rug had a noticeable bulge in it. With a roll of her eyes, Andromeda made her way over to the rug and pulled it back. The vase that had sat on the counter now lay on the floor in many different pieces. Another sigh spilled from Andromeda's lips and she turned back to her daughter, who was doing her best to look innocent.

"You want to explain this?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, the gnome did it!" Nymphadora exclaimed.

"The gnome?" Andromeda repeated, disbelief coloring her voice.

"Yeah, the garden gnome," she explained. "I've been telling you for months now that one got in the house and now you have proof."

Nymphadora had a very active imagination. She had been trying to convince her mother for the past few months that there was a garden gnome in their house. Now, Andromeda knew better than to believe her, of course, but very now and then she found herself almost believing the lies Nymphadora told.

"Honey," Andromeda sighed. "You're not supposed to lie to your mother."

"I'm not," she insisted. "I only said sorry because I hit the gnome as he was running away."

With a flick of her wand, Andromeda made the mess disappear. She turned back to Nymphadora and gave her a stern look, causing the little girl's hair to turn red with embarrassment. Part of Andromeda wanted to let her go without punishing her, but she knew that if she didn't do so, Nymphadora would be back doing whatever it was she had done to break the vase.

"No more running through the house," Andromeda told her, waiting for her daughter to protest that that wasn't what she had been doing. When she didn't, Andromeda knew she had guessed correctly. "Now, go up to your room and practice your writing until supper."

"But, Mum-"

"No, buts," she interrupted. "You know better than to run in the house, but you did it anyway. Now you can't play anymore—not until you learn your lesson. Go upstairs and do your work. If I hear you out of your room, no flying lessons for a week."

The little girl turned on her heel and trudged up the stairs. Her job done, Andromeda returned to the kitchen to make sure that supper wasn't burning. When she reached the kitchen, she saw her husband making dinner for her—the Muggle way. A smile found its way onto Andromeda's lips. Love filled her heart and she slipped up behind her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You don't have to do that," she told him, kissing his shoulder blade. "Did you finish setting up the tree? Nymphadora has been complaining all day about not being able to decorate it."

"Yes," he replied, his hand slipping down to hers and rubbing her knuckles. "She can decorate it any time she wants. Of course, that is, after she finishes her punishment."

Andromeda sighed. "Was I too hard on her?"

Ted shrugged. "She needs to learn. She's not going to do that if you coddle her."

"I don't coddle her," Andromeda muttered.

Ted hummed and Andromeda slipped under his arm to face him. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.

"You can do that with magic, you know," she told him.

"I know," he answered. "But somehow it always tastes better this way."

"Ted," she mumbled, kissing his neck. "Use magic."

He chuckled and looked down at her. After grabbing his wand off the counter, he spelled dinner to cook itself and turned his attention to his wife. Gently, he planted a kiss on her lips. A smile crossed Andromeda's face again, and she pressed her body against his. Ted's hands found their way to either side of her face so he could cradle her head between his hands. Andromeda loved how sweet he was with her. No one in her life had ever been sweet and soft like Ted Tonks had.

Slowly, he pulled away from her and gave her a smile. Andromeda returned it. Ted led her over to a chair and pulled her down on his lap once he'd taken a seat. Resting her head against his shoulder, she smiled, letting herself relax against his chest. Relaxing wasn't something that Andromeda did often with an active nine-year-old in the house.

"You're tired, Andy," Ted muttered against her forehead. "Do you need me to take off work more often so I can help you with Nymphadora?"

Andromeda shook her head, moving to look up at him. "No, Ted. You don't have to do that. It's more Christmas than anything. I miss my family, you know? Even if they were horrible people; they were all I ever knew."

"Oh, Andy, I'm sorry," he told her.

"Don't be," she replied. "I had to get out sooner or later, and I'm glad I got out with you. I wouldn't take back marrying you, Ted. Remember that."

With that, she leaned down and kissed her husband. She could feel the smile against her mouth, which caused her to smile.

"Ew!" came from the doorway.

Ted and Andromeda broke apart to see Nymphadora in the doorway.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your room?" Andromeda asked.

"Supper's done," Nymphadora replied before skipping over to the stove to get her food.


	7. Baby: Frank and Alice

**A/N: Aaand, we have Alice and Frank. Honestly, they were a bit harder for me to write for some reason, so I hope this didn't turn out too bad.**

 _7\. Alice and Frank, baby_

 _Summary: Alice needs to tell Frank something, but she's not sure how he'll react._

Alice paced the floor as she waited for her husband to return home. He had gone to visit his mother and still had not returned. It wasn't that Alice thought that he couldn't take care of himself—he could—it was just that she wanted him home now. She needed him home. However, it seemed that Augusta Longbottom had plans to keep him longer than usual, though.

Turning, she found herself staring out the window. Snow was pouring down outside. This time last year, Alice had been laughing in her backyard with her mother. Little did she know at the time that it would be would her last Christmas with her mother. Alice remembered her mother chasing her as a little girl across the fields of their land. Looking back, she realized that those were some of the happiest times of her life. Of course, her relationship with her mother changed as she got older, especially when she started dating Frank. Her mother didn't think that anyone was good enough for her, including Frank. Thankfully though, near the end of her life, Alice and her mother worked things out and she came to accept Frank.

The door opened and Alice's head jerked up.

"Hello, love," Frank said with a smile on his face. As he pulled his coat off, he revealed his broad shoulders. Alice had always admired those shoulders. That fact had not changed. "Sorry I'm late. Mum wanted to talk about the Order. You know how she is when she wants to know something. She wouldn't give up until she's told."

"I know," Alice replied, smiling as she thought about Augusta Longbottom. Her mother-in-law was an incredible person, indeed. "I wanted to talk to you."

Frank hummed. "What did you want to talk about?"

Swallowing, she prepared herself for what she had to tell Frank. "I'm pregnant."

Frank froze in his place. His jaw clenched and a tick appeared in between his shoulder blades. Alice knew that it was the worst possible time to have a child, but it's not like she could control the fact that Frank's sperm somehow found a way to attach itself to one of her eggs, even though they used protection. Shit happened.

"Are you sure?" he asked, sounding like someone was strangling him.

"Yes," she sighed, sinking down onto the couch. "I'm positive. I took a test about an hour ago and it was positive."

Frank ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. When Alice had first found out that she was pregnant, she was worried about this reaction. Now, she was worried about his lack of reaction. He didn't say a word as he slumped over to the couch and took a seat next to Alice. Still, he didn't utter a word, which caused Alice to shift in her seat. Frank's head fell to his hands. When she saw this, Alice leaned over and rested her chin on Frank's shoulder. This seemed to comfort him because he reached for Alice's hand and squeezed it hard.

"Frank?" she whispered. "Are you ok?"

"No," he moaned. "You told me I'm going to be a father."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm going to be a mother," Alice replied. "So at least you're not alone."

Frank snorted before leaning into Alice. Gently, she wrapped her arms around him and let him rest his head on her chest as she rested her chin on top of his head and stroked the ends of his hair. He shuddered against her hand, pulling a smile from Alice.

"We can do this you know," she told him. "We can raise this child. I mean it's not like we've never been around kids before. We've just never talked about having one. Probably because we know that tomorrow we could die, but we're having a child now, because I _am not_ getting rid of this child. I know you don't believe in signs, Frank, but I do. And I believe that this child is sign that things are going to change. They are going to get better, and we're going to be ok. That's what this means. For me, anyway."

Frank sighed and lifted his head to look Alice in the eye. "Allie, honey, are you sure? We're barely making it as is. I don't want to fuck up this kid. It deserves better than that, and I want it have better than that."

"Frank, we won't mess this up," she assured him. "We have so many people to help us. There is no way we could mess this up. I promise you. Your mother will help us. She raised you and you turned out fine. If we need help, we'll go to her. We can do this, ok?"

Her husband let out another breath before turning to face her. He searched her face for a moment, looking for any sign of doubt or fear. He found none. Quickly, he leaned into Alice and kissed her soundly. As soon as his lips met hers, she leaned into him enthusiastically. Her hands found either side of his face as he pulled her close to him, leaving not an inch of space between them.

"Well," he muttered when they came up for air. "I guess this is my Christmas present."

Alice laughed. "It's one of them. But you have to wait to open the rest of them."

"That's no fun," Frank said as he nipped at her ear.

A giggle escaped Alice before she become serious again. "Frank, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything," he responded.

"If it's a boy, can we name it after my dad?" she whispered, looking down at her lap. "I know Neville isn't a common name, but it would mean a lot to me if he was named after him."

Frank nodded. "Of course, Al. That' perfectly fine with me. But if it's a boy and we're naming him after someone, we could use my dad's name for a middle name."

"Neville John," Alice smiled. "It's perfect."


	8. Loss: Rodolphus and Bellatrix

**A/N: That's awesome, Pixie! And you're right! They do! ;) So here we are with poor Bella. Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for her because I don't think she was ever loved. Anyways, this is my take on her and Rod.**

 _8\. Bellatrix and Rodolphus, loss of a child_

 _Summary: Bellatrix suffers after losing the most important thing in the world to her. Rod tries to help._

"Bella, are you going to eat?" Rodolphus asked his wife.

Bellatrix Lestrange had no intention of answering her husband. It was Christmas. It was fucking Christmas and he was asking if she was alright. Of course, she wasn't alright. If she was, she would be chatting about their next plot to make sure that no more Mudblood scum were allowed into her precious Hogwarts.

But it was Christmas and her daughter was gone. She was supposed to be alive so Mummy could braid her hair and tie ribbons in it. She was supposed to be able to spoil her daughter—to giver her everything she ever wanted. Bellatrix was going to teach her how to conquer the world. She was going to teach her all the things she knew about the dark arts. It was Christmas and she was supposed to be here eating with them, chatting away and asking them questions, but she was not.

It was almost a year ago now that Bellatrix had given birth to a stillborn girl. Rodolphus persisted in telling her that it wasn't her fault, but she already knew that. It was that damn Marlene McKinnon's fault. If she hadn't blown up the wall Bellatrix was standing next to, none of that would have happened. Of course, the bitch got away, but that was no matter. She'd find her soon enough and then that girl would pay.

"Bella?" Rodolphus tried again.

Bella looked up this time, but only to give him a very annoyed look.

Sighing, Rodolphus wiped his mouth and stood up. He made his way across the extravagant dining room. It took him a few minutes, but he finally reached her. When he did, he knelt down in front of her and rubbed his face into her stomach. Bellatrix made no move to touch him. She didn't even want to be near him right now. However, she let him stay there out of pity—and maybe she had always liked seeing him on his knees.

"Bella, love," he muttered. "This is has got to stop. I know you loved her. I did, too. You have no idea how much I wanted to have that baby girl with you. I wanted her to live just as much as you did. I wanted to see her grow into a beautiful woman like her mother. But she's not going to and you need to stop this. You're no use to the Dark Lord if you're not at your best."

"How can you say that to me?" Bellatrix snapped, pushing his face away from her. "You don't say that to a women who has just lost a child, Rod. I need time to mourn—do not interrupt me." She gave Rodolphus a sharp look so he shut his mouth. "And don't try to tell I'm of no use to the Dark Lord. I am and you know it. Even now, I'm better than a good number of his followers—including you."

"I know, my love," Rodolphus mumbled. "I know, but imagine how much better you could be. You could be the best, instead of one of the best. It's been a _year,_ Bellatrix. I know it will be hard, but it will get easier if you try. That's all I'm asking, Bella. Just try for me. It doesn't have to be something huge. It can just be getting out of bed before noon, or making sure that you take a shower."

"I took a shower today," she reminded him, glaring.

"Yes, I know and you have no idea how wonderful that is. But, Bella, you've got to do that every day."

Bellatrix turned back to her plate and stared at her food. The thought of it made her sick. She didn't want to force it down her throat. She already knew it would taste like dust in her mouth—everything had since her daughter's death. However, it seemed Rodolphus was willing to go farther than she thought to help her get better. He grabbed the spoon off of her plate and scooped up some peas, pressing them lightly to her lips. Slowly, she opened her mouth and took a bite of the food. She was right—it tasted like dust—but it went down her throat easily and into her thankful stomach.

"Good girl," Rod sighed as he rested his forehead on her stomach. She glared at him for that comment, but it was half-hearted. For a moment, she thought that she could love this man before her. She thought that maybe she could find it somewhere in her heart to love Rodolphus Lestrange, instead of feeling a sense of duty when she was around him. But the moment passed as Rodolphus lifted his head and looked at her. She knew what his eyes were saying ' _eat the rest, please_ '.

With a deep breath, she reached for her spoon and started to eat small bites. A sigh of relief fell from Rodolphus' lips as his head fell into her lap. He stayed there while she ate—never shifting or making her uncomfortable, but encouraging her when she felt like she could eat no more. Finally, she finished the last spoonful of food and dropped her spoon onto her plate with a clatter. Leaning back in her chair, she looked at Rodolphus, who still knelt before her. Yes, she decided. She did like seeing him on his knees.

He pulled away to look at her. "There will be other children, Bellatrix. We could have another little girl and you could name her whatever you wanted. I'll spoil her and make sure you never have to lift a finger to do anything."

"No!" Bellatrix snarled. "There will be no more children."

She knew this with all her heart. No child could ever replace the one she lost and she wasn't going to try. Even if she knew that she was going to carry it to term, she wouldn't want it. She would hate that baby with all of her heart because it would remind her of the one she lost.

"There will be no more children, Rodolphus," she repeated before standing up and marching from the room, leaving her husband on his knees.


	9. Home: Remus and Tonks

**A/N: Haha, yeah, Pixie, I am. I didn't find it that believable and do not there for except it as canon. Anyways, here's the next chapter.**

 _9\. Remus and Tonks, pregnancy_

 _Summary: Tonks and Remus have a quite Christmas._

Tonks sighed as she looked at her pregnant stomach. It was starting to get bigger, and she almost hated to get up because it put so much pressure on her feet. She heard the soft sound of footsteps on the floor in the kitchen. Just a few rooms over, Tonks knew her husband was in the kitchen, making whatever it was that was filling the air with an intoxicating smell.

Honestly, she was just relieved that he was back. He'd been gone for nearly five weeks, and a part of her thought that he might never come back again. When he had returned though, she was so happy to see him that she forgot to be mad at him for leaving her. Instead, she just jumped into his arms and made him promise that he wouldn't ever leave her again. Of course, her mother had some things to say to Remus, but he really didn't seem to mind. Remus just nodded along with everything Andromeda Tonks said and then went about making sure that Tonks was comfortable.

A part of her was afraid that if she did something to upset him, he'd run away again. So Tonks was very careful to make sure everything was perfect. Besides, it was Christmas so everything had to work out right?

Remus finally emerged from the kitchen, carrying two cups of hot coco. Tonks' face lit up.

"Oh, that's what I was smelling," she muttered. "Is it good? Have you tried it? Did you put any peppermint in it? That's what Mum always puts in hers."

Remus raised his eyebrow at her rapid fire of questions. "Good is a matter of opinion and, no, I haven't. I hadn't thought to put any in there, actually. I can go get some peppermint if you like."

"No, that's alright," she told him as she took her mug. "I'm sure it's delicious. Sit with me."

Remus nodded and plopped down next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Tonks snuggled into his side and enjoyed the warmth that was radiating from him. A kiss was laid on her forehead as the two watched the cracking fire. A finger trailed up her side and she tried her best not to giggle at the ticklish feeling of it, but failed. She squirmed slightly under his soft touch and let a small laugh fall from her lips.

"That tickles," she mumbled against his side.

"I've noticed," he replied and poked her slightly again before stopping completely. "Have you decided on what you're going to get your mum for Christmas?"

Tonks sighed. "No, I haven't, even though I should. I just never know what to get her, you know? She has such high tastes, and they're so different from mine. I don't even know where to begin with her. Usually, I let Dad pick out something that she'd like in my name."

A shiver went down Tonks' spine as she thought about her dad. He was out here, running away for his life and being kept away from his family. He should be here at Christmas time, not out there in the cold. Remus noticed her mood.

"I know I don't understand since I don't exactly have a wonderful relationship with my father, but, Dora, I don't think your dad would want you to be sad about celebrating Christmas," Remus said. "I think he'd want you to have extra Christmas spirit and make sure that you make up for his absence."

A smile climbed over Tonks' face again. "You always know just what to say, don't you? Turn on, the wireless and see if Potterwatch is on. I want to know what's really going on out there."

Remus nodded and started to fiddle with the wireless. After a few minutes, he succeeded in getting it to work. Potterwatch started to play through the speakers with minimal crackling. Tonks and Remus listened as Lee Jordan spoke about the dead then went on to talk about having some good holiday cheer during this horrid time. Katie Bell was a guest star today. She spoke about the importance of keeping your guard up and making sure that you were always careful with magical items you didn't know. The other guest was Author Weasley. He spoke about how to keep your head low in the Ministry while also being able to help those who needed it. As Potterwatch signed off, Tonks couldn't help feeling relieved about that fact that her father wasn't mentioned on the list of people who were deceased.

"He's good at that," Remus said as he shut the radio off.

"He is," Tonks agreed. "I would have liked to meet him before all of this."

Remus chuckled. "I'm sure you would have. He's very much like Fred and George so you would have liked him."

Remus was usually able to identity the people who were speaking on the radio due to the fact he had taught a good many of them at one time. Tonks relied on him when she wasn't sure who was speaking.

"I love you," Tonks muttered as she settled back into Remus' side.

"I love you, too," Remus replied. "Both of you." His hand traveled down to her belly rubbing and caressing it. "I'm sorry I missed those weeks. I shouldn't have left in the first place. It. . .I was stupid and should have known better."

"Hush, Remus," Tonks sighed. "The past is the past. You can't change it so there's no sense in fretting over it all the time. Let's just move on, ok?"

"When did you become so wise?"

"Well, I've been around a lot of wise people."

Just then her baby decided that he wanted to take part in their conversation. He kicked at Tonks' stomach, pushing hard against her skin and showing the outline of his foot. Tonks quickly grabbed Remus' hand and moved it to that spot. Sure enough, he kicked again—right against his daddy's hand.

"I love you so much," Remus sighed as he leaned his head on her shoulder.

Tonks knew at that moment that this man wasn't going anywhere.


	10. Comfort: Arthur and Molly

**A/N: Alrighty so here were are with Arthur and Molly. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 _10\. Arthur and Molly, comfort_

 _Summary: Christmas without Fred is just too much for Molly to handle._

Molly bustled around the kitchen, trying her very best not to break down into tears. It was their first Christmas without Fred and she was worried about how everyone was going to take it, especially George. Honestly, she didn't know how they could sit in the living room chatting when he wasn't going to be here this year. Of course, 'them' consisted of Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione so maybe it was wrong to assume that they should be in tears. She would wait for to get here, then he would cry and she wouldn't feel so bad about having these feelings.

Laughter poured in from the living room, and Molly nearly lost it. She would have started wailing then if the door hadn't opened. Turning around, she saw her second oldest son shaking snow off of his clothes and beaming at her. Rushing over, Molly started to make sure that he had gotten all the snow off of him and that he was warm enough.

"Mum, I'm fine," Charlie assured her. "Really. After all, I finally get to have some more of your cooking, and I haven't had a proper meal in ages."

"Of course, you haven't," she scoffed. "You'd think they keep their employees well fed in Romania since they're working with dragons, but apparently, they can't manage to do that right. Charlie Weasley! You get your hands out of that pot right now!"

Charlie grinned sheepishly at her before setting down the lid and scurrying off to the living room.

Molly was left to putter about. As soon as she started to cook, she wondered if Fred was eating where ever he was. She hoped so. She hoped that he had some friends to share Christmas with, or that he was looking down on all of them and smiling. The door opened again.

George appeared in the doorway, and Molly hurried over to him.

"Mum," George whined as he reluctantly hugged her back.

"Oh, Georgie, I'm so glad you could make it," she told him. "Your father and I were hoping that you'd be able to get away from the shop."

"Mum," George repeated, jerking his head to the side. "I brought Angelina."

Molly turned her attention to the girl on the right. She was tall and quite pretty. Her hair was flowing around her shoulders in soft curls, and she had a small smile on her face. She stepped forward so Molly got a glimpse of her eyes—they were dark brown and twinkling in the light. Her lip slipped between her teeth like she was nervous.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," Angelina greeted her. "I don't know if you remember me or not. I was only here a few times."

"Of course, dear," Molly replied and gave her a quick hug. "What's this you've got?"

"Oh, well, I didn't know if you'd have enough food since you didn't know I was coming," Angelina explained. "George invited me last minute, you see. So I brought you something just in case."

"Oh, that's so sweet of you, dear," Molly told her, taking the delicious smelling dish and setting it on the table. "I appreciate that."

"I told you," George said, popping a carrot into his mouth. "Mum makes enough food for an army."

"George!" Molly shouted.

"What?" he responded. "Do you want me to spit it back into the pot?"

The look Molly gave him had him shirking in on himself. Angelina laughed.

"You've got that look down pat," she complimented the older lady.

"Yes, well, it does come in handy," Molly replied. "I could teach it to you if you like."

"I might just take you up on that."

George groaned. "Mum, she's scary enough as it is. Don't make it worse."

Angelina shrugged. "I have a look of mine."

Molly chuckled. "Well, I suppose that's a good thing. You'll need it to keep George in check."

George choked on the other carrot he was chewing, and Angelina turned pale.

"Oh, we're not together," she explained. "Not like that."

She cast a longing look over at George as he continued to choke on his carrot. The poor thing was probably heart sick.

"Yes, of course," she sighed. "Well, the others are in the living room, and George, if you touch that food on more time."

George stopped his hand from reaching into the food once more, and he and Angelina headed into the living room. Molly sighed as she watched the two go off.

She returned to her cooking and her morbid thoughts of her son, who sacrificed his life for this—a better world. She sniffed as she stirred the gravy, and a few tears leaked out of her eyes. Why was the world such a cruel place? Why did it have to take such a beautiful light from the world? It simply wasn't fair.

The door silently closed, and Molly nearly screamed. Percy was standing in the doorway, looking guilty for scaring his mother.

"Percy, darling, don't just stand there," Molly scolded him lightly. "You'll catch a cold."

"Right," he muttered. "Sorry, Mum."

"Nothing to be sorry about, dear," she replied with a smile on her face. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while?"

Percy shrugged. "Alright. Work still take up a lot of my time, but I'm fine."

"And your boss is treating you well?" Molly inquired. "You haven't had any trouble have you?"

"No," he replied softly, a small smile on his face. "No, I haven't."

"Good," she said. "Head on into the living room. Supper will be done in a minute."

Percy nodded, looking a little frightened, but headed in anyway.

Molly sighed as she watched before the door opened again. A pregnant Fleur waddled in with Bill behind her.

"Would you stop watching every move I make, mon amour," she sighed. "I am not going to fall on flat ground."

"Fall?!" Bill exclaimed. "When did you ever fall?"

Fleur glared at him. "Molly, tell your ridiculous son that I am fine and do not need help walking."

"Well, you look fine to me," Molly nodded. "How is the baby?"

"Oh, she is good," Fleur said with a smile as she rubbed her stomach. "It is her father you should worry about."

Bill only glared at her. "How are you, Mum?"

"I'm fine, dear," she answered. Bill always knew something was up. He didn't press the matter though. He nodded and left it at that.

"Have you decided on a name?" Molly wanted to know.

"Non," Fleur replied. "It is so hard to choose. I want to pick them all."

"Aw, yes, I remember how it was with mine," she sighed dreamily. "I wanted to name Bill Harley at one point."

"Mum!" Bill exclaimed.

"Well, there's no use in lying," she replied snippily. "Now, Fleur you must sit down. Go on. I'm sure everyone will be so pleased to see you."

As the two left the kitchen, Molly once again returned to her cooking. This time she couldn't stop the tears. Silently, she cried and did her best not to hinder her cooking. She didn't realize she was shaking until she tried to stir the potatoes and her spoon kept banging against the pot.

"Molly," Arthur urgently murmured when he came in from the living room. "Sit down, sweetheart. What's wrong?"

"Fred's not here," she wailed quietly. "He's not here and I want all my babies here."

"Oh, Molly, hush," Arthur whispered tears of his own gathering in his eyes. "It'll be alright. I promise. Fred may not be here in the flesh, but he's here in spirit. That's what counts."

"But I want to hold him again," Molly cried.

"I know, love. So do I."

After a few more minutes of soothing words, Arthur was able to calm Molly down, and they called their children in to eat.


	11. Pregnacy: Bill and Fleur

**A/N: Alright so we're getting into the Golden Trio era now, and I'm really excited about the couples in these chapters. Hope you enjoy!**

 _1_ _1\. Bill and Fleur, pregnancy_

 _Summary: Bill gets a bit overprotective._

Fleur sighed as Bill moved to help her climb out of bed. Honestly, she wasn't that big. She was so happy when she found out she was pregnant. She'd nearly cried when she'd told Bill. Of course, she hadn't anticipated him being so overprotective. Every time she so much as moved, Bill was right there, breathing down her neck and making sure that she didn't fall. That was impossible anyway. Her mother had taught her to be as graceful as a swan.

"Fleur, do you want-"

"No," the pregnant women interrupted her husband. "I can walk by myself, William."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you didn't fall," he told her.

"Yes, I know," she sighed. "But I am able to walk around by myself. So, go take your shower and I will make breakfast."

"Are you-"

"Yes."

With that Fleur left her husband to the shower and headed down the stairs. Bill thought that they were hard for her to get down, but really it was just the same as it was when she wasn't pregnant. When she reached the kitchen, she smiled. It was the first day she had been alone in her kitchen and it felt wonderful.

She started to putter about and look for things. Bill always ended up asking her where the food was, but she never had any trouble locating them. After turning the burner on, she grabbed the bacon and eggs from the fridge and threw a couple of slabs on there. Once that was done, she cracked the eggs into another skillet and started to scramble them. Finally, she started to make some pancakes. Her mother had given her the recipe for perfect pancakes.

When Bill came down the stairs, Fleur had almost finished breakfast. The bacon and eggs were on the table and she was finishing up the last two pancakes.

"Fleur, should you be doing that?" he asked.

"I am fine," she answered. "I can cook. The smell does not bother me if that is what you are wondering."

"Right," was his only reply as he took a seat. He eyed her the whole time she was cooking, which made Fleur roll her eyes. She wasn't going to fall, and she certainly wasn't going to endanger the baby. Besides, Molly though that she was doing just fine, and she'd done this seven times before.

"Here you are," Fleur said as she sat the plate of pancakes down, then sat down herself.

"Fleur, I've been meaning to talk to you," Bill started, which had Fleur groaning. "I think that we should get someone to come and stay with you while I work. You know, just until the baby is born. My mother wouldn't mind doing it, and I'm sure I can find someone else when Mum isn't available. I know you probably don't like the idea right now, but if you could just think about about, I'm sure you'd see that it's what's best."

Fleur sat there with her mouth hanging open. It most certainly was not what was best. She could be around the house without someone—especially Molly Weasley—watching her every move. She was not a child, and she refused to be treated as one. For Merlin's sake, it was nearly Christmas! This time of year was supposed to be a happy time for them, not a time for being cooped up like a caged animal.

"No, Bill," Fleur said sternly. "I will not have my every move watched. I am not a little girl, and I can take care of myself. Just because I am pregnant does not mean that I should be treated differently. I am going upstairs now. You can finish your breakfast if you like."

With that Fleur stood up and headed up the stairs. Bill did not follow her. In fact, he didn't even move from his seat, though he did look like he felt bad, which made her feel slightly better. When she reached their bedroom, she grimaced. Of all the places she could have gone, she had to storm up to the one place with only exit. Sighing, she sank down on the bed and waited to see how long it would take her silly husband to come and apologize to her.

It wasn't even a minute later that she heard Bill stomping up the steps. A small smile appeared on her face when she triumphed, but she quickly tucked that away when the door was knocked on.

"Fleur, can I come in?" he asked softly.

"Oui."

Bill pushed the door open and poked his head inside. He did look sheepish. Fleur silently scolded herself; he hadn't even apologized yet.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, making his way over to the bed. "You know I love you right? I just want to make sure that you're ok. I've never done this before so I'm sorry if I'm screwing it up."

Fleur stroked his hair as he leaned on against her shoulder. It was hard not to forgive him right now, but she needed to get what she wanted first.

"Listen to me, mon amour," she said as she turned his face so she could see it. "You are going to be a wonderful father, but I do not need to be watched every moment of every day. I will be fine. I am pregnant, not someone with a terminal disease. I am and will continue to be fine."

"I know," Bill replied. "And I'm sorry I was so overprotective. Merlin, I must have sounded like a prick downstairs. I'm so sorry, Fleur."

Fleur laughed. "Not prick, just a imbécile."

Bill laughed with him. "Alright, fine. I can't promise that I won't try and look out for you and the baby, but I will promise that I'll try not to take it overboard."

"Good. Now you better go before you're late for your job."

"Alright," Bill said as he stood up. He kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too, William."


	12. First Date: Charlie and Verity

**A/N: I hope you enjoy!**

 _12\. Charlie and Verity, first date_

 _Summary: Charlie is nervous about his first date._

Charlie fidgeted with his clothes as he looks in the mirror. He's as nervous as he was when he was a first year in Hogwarts. When he first met George's shop attendant, it was at Fred's funeral. She was so pretty and he was sure that she was George's girlfriend. It was quite a shock when he found out she wasn't. In fact, she nearly smacked him when he asked about it, then proceeded to chew him out on how in appropriate it was to sleep with your boss, let alone be in a relationship with him. Of course, that didn't extend to your boss' brother apparently, because they ended up in a broom closet not twenty minutes later.

It was like a tradition of sorts. Whenever Charlie would come back home for the holidays, he would meet Verity and they would have a good romp. None of his family knew, of course, (his mother would have fit) except George, who had given him a long lecture about how his storage rooms were not for having sex. He'd thought she had understood that he didn't want to be tied down. However, this time, she said she wanted to go on a date before. . . .well, before they did anything. He didn't know why he agreed.

Charlie had never been good at this sort of thing. He wasn't meant to take girls out; that was always Bill's specialty and George's he supposed. With a frustrated noise, he decided that he looked good enough. This girl had seen him naked, surely there was nothing that could faze her now. With that thought in mind, Charlie exited his house and Apparated to Verity's house. After straightening his jacket, he knocked on the door once and stepped back.

Verity opened the door almost immediately. "Well, you clean up nice."

Her blonde hair was been swept back into a ponytail and she smiled brightly at him. Charlie nearly pinned her up against the wall then and there. However, he managed to restrain himself.

"Shall we?" Verity asked as she extended her hand to him. Charlie's response was to talk her hand. They Apparated and appeared at a small Muggle restaurant that Charlie had never been to. Verity led them inside and told the maitre'd the name that their reservation was under. Quickly, they were led to their table.

"Charlie, are you ok?" Verity asked. "You look a little pale."

"Hmm, I'm fine," he replied.

"Right," she said as the waiter brought them some wine. Charlie immediately downed his glass. "Ok, you're not fine. What's wrong?"

"This!" Charlie exclaimed. "I don't do this. I don't date. I thought you knew that. I know that we've been doing this for a while, but that doesn't make it a relationship. I'm sorry, Verity, but honestly, thought that you knew I wasn't cut out for this. I don't take girls out for nice dinners and buy them flowers. That's not me."

Verity burst our laughing. "You thought this was a date? Honestly, Charlie, you should know better. I know you don't date. You made that very clear the first time. Besides, I don't want a relationship; I don't have time for one. You told me what time you could come over, and I knew that I wouldn't have time to eat dinner so I thought we could go out and get some."

"But you said 'let's have dinner'," Charlie replied.

"Yes, _dinner,_ " Verity said. "If I had meant date, I would have said date."

Well, now Charlie felt rather stupid. He should have known better than to believe that this was date, yet he'd let his fear get the better of him. At least, Verity seemed to be getting a kick out of it. She was still laughing her head off. Charlie lightly kicked her under the table.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "But the fact that you even believed that for a second is hilarious."

"Yes, hardy har har," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, don't be a poor sport, Charlie," Verity told him. "It's just so funny. George is going to laugh himself silly."

"Don't you dare tell him about this!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Only if you do something for me," she said. Charlie raised an eyebrow. "I'll tell you later."

The rest of the night went by without a hitch. There was no more bumbling on Charlie's part, which relieved him, and Verity was as charming as she always was. The ordered and when the waiter was gone they laughed about how formal everything was here. Finally, when the night ended, Charlie walked Verity outside the restaurant and returned to the alley they had been in to Apparate back to her house.

"Well, Mr. Weasley," Verity said, leaning against her door. "That was just the worst night of my life. I don't know if I should let you past this door."

Charlie gave her an annoyed look. "Are you ever going to let this go?"

Verity thought about it. "Probably not. I mean if I ever need to blackmail, this is perfect thing to do it with."

"If you think I'm that easily imitated by something as little as blackmail, you've got another thing coming," Charlie told her, leaning against the door frame. "I do work with dragons."

"Right," Verity replied. "A date's what scares you."

Charlie blushed to the tip of his ginger roots. "Shut up and unlock the door."

Verity gave him a coy smile before turning around to unlock the door. As soon she had done so, Charlie spun her around to kiss her. She responded enthusiastically, pressing up against him. Charlie couldn't help but smile against her lips. Yes, he very much preferred this going out and complimenting a girl on what she was wearing. Apparently, Verity did as well.

Charlie was very intrigued to see what she had planned for tonight.


	13. Boss: Percy and Audrey

**A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this one! I hope you enjoy it!**

 _13\. Percy and Audrey, boss_

 _Summary: Sleeping with your boss is a big no-no, but Percy can't resist._

"Mr. Weasley, I need to see you in my office, please," Ms. Smith said in a very stern tone as she passed his desk.

"Someone's in trouble," muttered his coworker, Brain. Percy gave him an annoyed look.

Ms. Smith was know for being rather strict despite her young age. Most of the people in her office called her Scrooge. Percy, of course, wasn't one of them.

Standing from his seat, Percy brushed the dust off of his suit and headed for her office. Whispers followed him down the hall. It had been the third time this week that Percy had been called to Ms. Smith's office. People started to call him a troublemaker or Ms. Smith's favorite to pick on. Percy saw it in a completely different light.

"Merry Christmas," Audrey said as soon as he closed the door to her office.

She was sitting on the table with her legs spread apart. If Percy tried, he could get a glimpse of the underwear she wore under her skirt. (Not that he tried.) She had unbuttoned the top two buttons on her shirt to reveal a good amount of skin. A smirk was plastered onto her face a she watched him. You would never guess that Audrey Smith was a Ravenclaw.

"You know, if you don't stop calling me into your office, people are going to suspect," Percy told her, as he undid hid tie.

"Oh, are they?" she replied, pulling him closer by his belt loops. "Well, then I guess you'll get blamed for seducing little ol' me."

Percy scoffed. "Uh-huh, then you wouldn't have anyone to fuck when you're bored."

"Oh, kitty's got claws," Audrey purred as she kissed his neck.

"How many times do I have to tell you I am not a kitty?" he muttered against the shell of her ear.

She shivered. "For as long as it takes to convince me that you're not."

Audrey was perched in her chair as she watched Percy button up his shirt.

"Come to my place tonight," she suggested. "I've got nothing to do and I want to see you."

Percy sighed. "I can't. Mum's making us all dinner tonight and I promised I'd go. But I'll see you tomorrow night."

Audrey hummed. "That's not soon enough. Remind me why we have to keep up with charade again."

"So we don't get fired."

"Right."

Audrey stood up and wrapped her arms around Percy's neck while he leaned against the desk. A smile slipped over his face as he started down at the girl before him. In heels, she was the same height as him, but without them, she was a good five inches shorter than him. He wanted to laugh at the fact that such a short women could be so fierce. Of course, he would never laugh to her face, because that would be suicide in and of itself.

When they had first started their relationship, Percy had been a bit afraid to enter into it. He wasn't daft. He knew by the looks that she was always giving him what she wanted, but he also knew how inappropriate it was to sleep with your boss. So he'd kept his distance for a good long while. That hadn't pleased Audrey at all. She made it a habit to call him into her office and tease him innuendos. Percy manged to resist for a while, but that all ended one fateful night.

He had been working that and hadn't know Audrey was there. She was working on some project and was so tired that she was nearly falling asleep in her chair. He'd taken her home and made sure that she was ok, but his chivalry had told him that he should sleep on the couch and make sure she was alright. He'd given her a quick peck the next morning and had been hooked ever since.

Audrey pulled him from his thoughts. "Are they still mean to you?"

"Who?" Percy questioned. "My family? They were never mean to me, Audrey. I told you, _I_ was the one who abandoned _them_. Not the other way around."

"And they forgave you? Just like that?"

"Well, some might say that my family can be too forgiving," Percy muttered. "I certainly didn't deserve it. For whatever reason they want me and I'm not going to let the down again."

Audrey nodded. "I wonder what that's like sometimes. To have a family forgive you like that. I know mine wouldn't."

"Audrey," he mumbled, but she'd already turned her back to him.

"Forget it," she sighed. "I shouldn't have said that."

Quietly, Percy slid his arms around her waist and let his chin rested on her shoulder. A kiss was pressed her neck to remind her that he was always going to be here for her. Percy knew that Audrey didn't have the best relationship with her parents. She'd never told him what it was outright, but he expected it had something to do with her being a witch and her family being Muggles. Anyone who rejected Audrey was an idiot in Percy's opinion, Muggle or not. She might be tough as nails, but under it all, she was the sweetest person to walk the face of the earth. Percy would give the world to spend a few moments with her. (Not that she needed to know that.)

"Audrey, you know that no matter I'm here for you," Percy whispered. "Even if they weren't. I'm not leaving. I will stand by your side, even if hell freezes over. Nothing could ever make me leave you."

Audrey turned in his arms and smiled up at him. It was so rare for her to smile. She was always smirking or glaring, but that smile was Percy's favorite. Whenever it made an appearance, Percy's heart skipped a beat.

"You're the best boyfriend in the world," she muttered. "Did I ever tell you that?"

"No, actually you never have."

"Shut up, smartarse, and get back to work."

Percy kissed her forehead and headed back into an office filled with whispers.


	14. Comfort: George and Angelina

**A/N: Alright, so here are my babies! Hope you like!**

 _14\. George and Angelina, comfort_

 _Summary: Angelina fights how she feels like trying to help George._

Angelina flipped through the magazine as she sat on George's bed. The man in question was talking about a product that he was going to create as he pulled his shirt on. Years of Quidditch practice should have made her used to seeing his bare chest by now, but apparently, her heart couldn't comprehend that because butterflies erupted in her chest as soon as she saw the softly unlined abs on his chest. Quickly, she averted her eyes back to her magazine.

It wasn't exactly easy when you liked your best friend in a way that you weren't supposed to like your best friend. She wasn't sure when it started, but now, it really didn't matter, did it?

"What do you think about that?" he asks.

"What?" Angelina says, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Have you even heard anything I just said?" George muttered with a smirk.

Angelina rolled her eyes and returned to reading. "What are you doing for Christmas anyway? Katie said that she was going to do something, but she wasn't sure what. She wanted me to ask you if you'd want to come over."

Silence was the only response she got. Looking up, she saw that George had gone still and was glaring at something that she couldn't see. Carefully, she swung her feet over the bed and watched him.

"George?" she said. "Are your alright?"

"I'm going to my mum's," he told her darkly as he sat down the bed. "You know they expect us to act like nothing is wrong. Like Christmas is going to be just fine without Fred and nothing is going to change. But everything already has. No one wants to say so, but it has. Nothing will ever be the same ever again. I can't stand them ignoring that fact."

"Oh, Georgie," Angelina muttered as she scooted up behind him. Her arms wrapped around his chest. "I'm sorry. I know it must be so hard for you, especially since it's Christmas."

"That's just the thing," George replied. "I wouldn't mind Christmas. I could live with Christmas. It's the fact that they all act like they have smile and pussy foot around me. I get it. I look like, but that doesn't mean I am him. He'd want us to move on, but it's like they're ignoring that, too. I know everyone says that people mourn in their own way, but that's bullshit."

"It's not though," she sighed. "No two people are alike, and no two people handle situations like this the same. I get that you're upset, but they're your family George. They just want you to be ok."

"I am," he choked out.

"No, love, you're not," she said softly, as tears rolled down his face.

Angelina knew how George worked. He would make sure that everyone else was ok before he took care of himself. She thought that he got it from his mother. However, that also meant that he wasn't taking care of himself mentally. He was suppressing his own feelings to make sure that everyone else got taken care of first. If no one stopped him, he would try to fix the world's problems, which was Angelina was here—to make sure that he wasn't running himself into the ground.

"I miss him, Angelina," George muttered as he turned his head into her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.

Angelina's breath caught in her throat. Damn those butterflies. Why did they come up at the most inconvenient of times? Gently, she stroked George's bright red locks and muttered soothing things in his ear. This only made him latch onto her more and cry harder.

"Georgie," she sighed. "You need to stop doing this to yourself. You can't fix everything. I know you'd try if you could, but you can't. Sometimes you have to leave it at. And if you really want to fix something, then start with yourself. I know that you don't think you need help, but you do. You're not coping with this any better than your family is. Suppressing everything doesn't solve the problem. It only prolongs it. I want you to get better and I'll help you do that in any way I can, alright?"

"Why do you have to be so amazing all the time?" he responded.

"It's just a part of being me."

Slowly, George started to calm down and release her. Angelina couldn't say she was pleased about the latter. When he'd let go of her completely, he wiped his eyes. She would have done it for him if she thought that he wouldn't push her way. Glancing at the clock, Angelina saw that it was nearly ten o'clock. Ron was going to be pissed about having to run the shop alone after he'd done it the previous day.

"I'm sorry," George mumbled. "I don't-"

"Don't apologize," Angelina interrupted him. "You never have to be sorry for showing me how you feel, even if it means that you're crying. Like I said, I want to help you in any way you can. If being a shoulder to cry on is what you need, then I'm here. Day or night."

George gave her a faint smile, which melted Angelina's heart. Quickly, she chided herself for evening feeling such a thing. George equals best friend, she reminded herself. That meant that he was off limits.

"You don't have to go to your parent's house if it's going to upset you," she told him. "You could come with me to Katie's or something else if you don't want to go there either. You can just stay home, or you can come over to my flat and we'll do a whole bunch of stupid stuff."

This time, George did smile. "No, I think I'll go. Mum will be sick to her stomach if I don't show. But. . .maybe you could come with me. I know you've got plans with Katie, so it's fine if you can't."

"Oh, no, it's fine," she assured him. "Katie isn't even sure it's official yet. Of course, I'll come with you."

"Thanks, Ange."


	15. Snow: Ron and Hermione

**A/N: I haven't written from Hermione's point of view in forever. I hope this turned out ok! Enjoy!**

 _15\. Ron and Hermione, first snow_

 _Summary: Hermione trying to study leads to a walk outside._

Hermione sat on the couch reading a book on the history of magical law. Now that she was about to into law she wanted to know as much about it as possible. Of course, law hadn't always been Hermione's first choice. In fact, she never really had a first choice. Despite how organized and planned her life was during school, she had no idea what she wanted to do afterward. That was why she had gone back for her last year. She felt that it was important not only to finish her education, but also to use that last year to figure out what exactly she was going to do with her life.

It'd been near the end of the year before she'd decided what she was going to do. Strangely enough, Luna was the one who suggested going into law. Hermione had been holding one last S.P.E.W meeting for the year. (S.P.E.W. had really taken off in her last year. She had almost twenty dedicated members, who would hopefully continue her work when she was gone.) Luna was there, seeing as she was a member as well, and she was talking about some creatures that were similar to house elves. Then she was saying how wonderful it would be if Hermione could help werewolves with their rights, too. So Hermione decided to go into the Depart of Magical Law Enforcement.

So that was why Hermione was studying up on this history of magical law. The only downside was that she was studying at her boyfriend's flat, which he shared Harry, and he had a tendency to interrupt her.

"Hermione," Ron whined. "It's Christmas. Don't you want to go outside and enjoy the weather?"

"Ron, it's the twenty-fiftieth so it's not Christmas," Hermione replied. "And it's cold outside."

"But you've been messing with that book all day," Ron muttered. "It's like I don't even exist."

Hermione gave him a look. "Don't you think you're being a little over dramatic?"

"Nope," he replied.

"You're spending too much time around George," she mumbled as she put her book down. Ron didn't reply as he bounced over to the coat rack and began to pull on his coat. Hermione would have shaken her head, if she hadn't found it rather cute. She supposed that was what had attracted her to Ron. He was easy going (most of the time) while she always took things a bit too seriously.

After she pulled her coat on, Ron grabbed her hand and they headed outside into the cold. Immediately, Hermione regretted it. The chilly air seeped through her thick coat causing her to shiver. Ron, however, seemed to immune to cold, because he looked just about as happy as he could be.

"Remind me where we're going?" Hermione mumbled as she pulled her coat tighter around her.

"I don't know," he answered. "I thought we'd go for a walk. Maybe to the park."

"The park?" she yelped. "That's a half a mile away!"

"I know," he replied, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't you like the park?"

"I like the park just fine," she said. "But I hate this cold."

"It's winter."

"I'm quite aware of that, thanks."

Ron rolled his eyes, but continued on just as happy as before. Hermione almost wanted to kill him for humming a tune under his breath. Well, if he died today, it would be his own fault. Her parents had told her that she always hated the cold and would throw a tantrum if forced to go outside and play with the other kids.

"Hermione," Ron muttered when they had almost reached their destination.

"What?" she managed to get out of her chilled lips.

"You know we're going to my mum's, right?" he mumbled.

"What do you mean?" she said. "This is the way to the park."

"No, I mean for Christmas," Ron corrected her.

"Of course, I know that," she replied. "We'd decided that weeks ago."

"Well, I don't want you to feel unprepared," he told her.

"Ron, what are you talking about?" she demanded.

He blew out a breath. "Well, you know my mum didn't like Fleur when Bill started dating him. She wasn't exactly accommodating to her either. She never said or did anything outright, but you could tell she didn't like her. Now that we're dating. . . .I don't know if she'll treat you how she normally does. I just didn't want you to go in there and feel like you were being attacked. Honestly, I think it's just a mum thing."

Hermione's mouth nearly feel open. Mrs. Weasley might not like her with being Ron? Honestly, it was a thought that never accrued to her. Yes, Mrs. Weasley hadn't liked Fleur at all when she'd first met her, but Hermione was different. Mrs. had done her since she was practically a child. So that meant she had to like her right? She couldn't be mad at her for falling for Ron, after all. Or could she?

"I might be wrong," Ron said when she still hadn't spoken. "She's known you for a while and you've never acted uppity or like the French had better things than the English or cooked their food better or-"

"Ron," Hermione interrupted. "I get it. What I don't get is why she'd be mad at me _now._ We've been dating for over a year."

"Yeah, but you were never really around, were you?" he pointed out. "After the Battle, you spent the summer in Australia looking for your parents, then you back to school. That Christmas, you went home to see them as well and every other break after that. So really you haven't been around my mum all that much."

"What if she thinks I don't like her?" Hermione gasped.

"I don't think she thinks that," Ron replied. "She hasn't mentioned anything like that to me or Ginny."

"Right," she muttered, wiping a snowflake from her nose.

"Snow!" Ron shouted, causing Hermione to jump. "It's finally snowing!"

Hermione almost wanted to smile at his childish excitement. Gently, she stopped him and leaned up for a kiss. Even if Mrs. Weasley thought differently of her now, she knew it would be worth it as long as she had Ron.


	16. Together: Harry and Ginny

**A/N: Sorry this is late! Hope you like!**

 _16\. Harry and Ginny, getting back together_

 _Summary: Ginny and Harry have always been horrible when it comes to expressing their feelings._

Ginny sat in the snow out back beside the house. She wouldn't say that she cared for snow. It was nice, but she preferred weather she could play Quidditch in. Right now wasn't the best time for doing such things, unless you fancied getting frost bite. However, snow, to Ginny, offered a peaceful environment for her to think about everything that was happening in her life.

Since school had ended, life for Ginny had been a whirlwind. She had been excepted to the reserve team of the Holyhead Harpies, which pleased her. Summer and fall had been nothing but practice, not that she minded. It gave her something to think about, after all. Then she'd gotten two weeks off for Christmas, which surprised her. The Harpies were rather strict about their schedules and other such things. She thought that they would never allow more than three days off for training. However, it seemed that the team realized just how important family was, after all.

Crunching of snow alerted Ginny to someone's presence. Once upon a time, she would have jumped out of her skin and grabbed her wand, but time had dulled the reactions that she had developed during the war. Besides, she recognized the sound of those footsteps.

Harry plopped down besides her. Ginny didn't say anything to him. She didn't really have to anymore. War had hardened them both. Words were unnecessary now, though not unwelcome.

"Bad day?" he asked, still not looking at her.

Ginny just nodded.

Harry didn't say anything for a moment and Ginny was grateful. She didn't feel like talking right, but she didn't want to be left alone either. When she was alone, the bad thoughts swirled in her head like storm clouds. However, when someone was around, they didn't fill her head so much as before. Harry was especially good at chasing them away.

"You know, I've found that talking about is a lot better than keeping it locked inside," he muttered as he traced patterns in the snow.

Ginny smiled. "Are you trying to get me to talk about my feelings, Potter?"

Harry grinned. "Only if you want to."

That smile nearly killed her sometimes. After the war, Ginny and Harry hadn't gotten back together for whatever reason. She expected it had something to do with him going to work for the Ministry while she went to back to school. Ever since they there had been tension between them, coiled tight like a snake. At times, Ginny felt like you could cut the air with it. George had given her a few pointed looks when Harry was in the room, and Bill looked between them occasionally with an expression she couldn't read. Despite all of this, she and Harry never became more than friends. She wasn't sure why. She still had feelings for him, but knowing Harry, it was for some stupid noble reason. Or maybe he thought she didn't like him anymore. Whatever the reason, she knew that they probably wouldn't get back together for a while and that was if they even did get together.

"How was Auror training?" she changed the subject.

"Fine," he answered, shrugging. "It was the same as always."

"Your instructor still in awe of you?" she teased.

Ginny had found it hilarious when Ron had informed her that their instructor had treated Harry like a god. Apparently, he had all but fallen at Harry's feet and kissed them. Harry, of course, had found the treatment to be annoy and had to fight to keep the scowl off his face at work.

"It's not funny!" Harry exclaimed.

"No, you're right," she agreed. "It's hilarious."

"Shut up," he muttered.

"You did not just tell me to shut up," she pretended to act offended. Grabbing a handful of snow she threw it at him. Sputtering, Harry shook the cold substance out of his hair. He gave her an evil look before packing snow together and throwing it at her as she climbed to her feet. She never made it to her feet though, because Harry grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall in the soft powder. Then cold snow was being stuffed into her hair. She screeched at the feeling.

Rolling onto her back, Ginny grabbed another handful of snow to throw at Harry, but he grabbed her wrists before she could manage to do so.

"Do you give up?" he asked breathless. His glasses where misted over.

"Never!" she exclaimed, wiggling underneath him.

She managed get her legs out from under him slightly as he reached for more snow, but that only caused him to jolt forward, leaving them in a very intimate position. The laughter left their faces as they stared at each other. Ginny's breath quickened when Harry glanced down at her lips. Was he thinking the same thing she was?

"Ginny," he muttered before leaning down and gently kissing her.

He let go of her wrists and let his hands find her waist. Ginny's arms went around his neck, then slid down his back, pulling him more soundly against him. Why did they have to do this in the dead of winter when they were more like to get hypothermia if they took their clothes off? Harry took that question off her mind though as he slipped his cold hands under her coat. Ginny yelped, but it quickly turned into a moan as he stroked the underside of her breasts.

"Harry," she breathed as he kissed down her neck.

"Gin." Her name left his lips like a prayer.

This. This was what she had been missing all those months that she had kept away from him. Oh, she should have listened to her instincts months ago and jumped him when she had the chance. Of course, the bad thing about kissing in the snow is that it's supper cold.

"Chilly," she muttered and Harry immediately groaned and dropped his head into the crook of his neck. Gently, Ginny stroked his hair.

"My mum's probably watching from the window," she told him.

"Well that make me feel wonderful," he sighed as he rolled her off of her.

"If it makes you feel better, she's probably jumping up and down for joy."

Harry just laughed.


	17. There: Lee and Alicia

**A/N: Here you are!**

 _17\. Lee and Alicia, being there_

 _Summary: Lee lets Alicia know that he will always be there for her._

Alicia rolled off of Lee as he caught his breath. Well, there was one thing you could say about their relationship. Best sex ever. Of course, it might have been better if Alicia actually agreed to go out on a date with him, but that was besides the point. She wanted this to be a strictly friends with benefits relationship, but whatever, Lee could handle that. It's not like he got his heart broken ever time she walked out the door. No, he was a man and he was stronger than that. Much, much stronger.

It'd been about a year since they'd started this. They'd been drunk naturally, and both of them had been yearning for some kind of comfort since the war had ended. They'd both lost so much during the Battle; Lee, his best friend and Alicia, her family. So they'd ended up in his bed that night. The next morning had been a mess. Alicia had screamed when she woke up and didn't know where she was. Lee had to calm her down while her screaming had only made his headache worse. After that, this had become a regular thing.

Lee reached over and ran a hand down her back before letting it fall back down to the bed. Alicia didn't say anything.

"Are you going to Katie's thing?" Lee asked. "I thought I might, but I'm not sure. If you are-"

Then Lee heard Alicia sniff and stopped talking immediately. It was unusual for Alicia to say much when she was over. Even when Lee directly engaged her in conversation, he usually only received one word responses. Sitting up, he gently turned Alicia to face him. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, which made Lee's stomach sink. This most certainly was not good.

"Hey, come here," he muttered, pulling her close to him and rocking her back forth. Alicia let him as she cried against his shoulder. His hand ran up her back in a soothing way that his mother used to do to him when he was sick. Eventually, Alicia managed to stop crying. Honestly, Lee would have preferred it if she had continued crying. He was horrible at trying to get people to talk about their feelings. This was supposed to be Angelina's or Katie's job.

"Alicia," he sighed. "Um, why don't you just tell me what's going on, ok? Maybe that will make you feel better."

Was that what he was supposed to say? He hoped so.

Alicia sniffed. "It's nothing you want to hear about I'm sure."

"But I do," he told her. "I want to hear about it because I want to know how I can help you."

Alicia gave him an odd look before nodding. "Well, you know what happened to my parents. And it's not exactly easy, but I try to do the best I can. It's just. . .it's Christmas and they're not here. You know, I didn't even think about that until the other day and that was only because I saw this little girl with her parents. I thought 'that used to me.' My mom and I used to go shopping for gifts together every Christmas. Now, we can't because she's not here. She's supposed to be here!"

Lee wrapped Alicia in his arms again as she started to sob. He was pretty sure someone wasn't supposed to sob after you tried to comfort them. He was doing a horrible job at comforting her. Merlin, why did girls have to cry so much? Why couldn't they just be like guys and never cry in front of people?

"Well, if you want someone to go shopping with you, I'll go with you," Lee offered, which only made her sob harder. "Oh, hey, or if you don't want to do that, we can just stay in and I'll make you something to eat. I can't promise it'll be good though. I'm kind of a horrible cook. But I can try."

Alicia let out a watery laugh. "Why are you so nice, Lee?" She pulled away to look him in the eye. "You know I'm using you, right?"

Lee nodded. "I know."

"I don't understand," she muttered. "How can you let me treat you that way and not get mad? How can you sit there and comfort me when you know I won't stay with you? I wouldn't if I were in your shoes."

He shrugged. "That's what friends do. They support each other—no matter what. I guarantee you Angelina or Katie would do the same thing."

Alicia snorted. "I doubt that they would sleep with me. Katie doesn't swing that way and Ange is too busy pining over George."

Lee's eyes widened. "Angelina likes girls?"

"Yes," Alicia told him. "She likes bi. You didn't know that? It's not exactly a secret."

"Well, I never asked her," he muttered. "Besides, if I did, she'd probably punch me in the nose."

"You're right, she would."

Lee smiled at her and managed to pull a smile out of her as well. Gently, he rubbed his finger up and down her arm.

"Are you good now?" he asked.

"I think so," she mumbled. "Thanks for that. I know I went bonkers on you. You should have just thrown me out. I would have been fine."

"I would never do that," he said softly, causing Alicia to look into his eyes again.

Gently, she leaned into hug him as if moving faster would break him. Lee held her tightly against him as he rubbed her back again. She seemed to appreciate it because she sagged against him. He forgot how nice it was to just hold someone in your arms because you wanted to. Part of him wanted to keep Alicia in here until she agreed to go out on a date with him, but he knew forcing her wasn't going to change anything. Instead, he'd wait until she was ready.

"You know," he mumbled. "You could stay if you wanted to."

"Really?" she asked, pulling away to look at him.

"Yeah," he replied.

So they laid back down and Lee made sure that he held her tight to let her know he was always going to be here.


	18. Reconnecting: Oliver and Katie

**A/N: Completely agree, Pixie! People need to focus on the damage the battle did.**

 _18\. Oliver and Katie, reconnecting_

 _Summary: Oliver helps Katie in the kitchen._

Katie hurried around her kitchen, trying to make sure everything was ready. Of course, it wasn't. Usually, she was on top of things, but this year, she always seemed to mess things up. It didn't help that she was just now pulling herself out of depression she'd been stuck in since the war. PTSD was what her Mental Healer called it, (Mental Healers only started to emerge after the Battle, which Katie found to be amusing.) but she didn't care to give it a real name. Giving it a name, meant that she actually had something wrong with her.

Just as she was about to check the timer for the turkey, the doorbell rang. Cursing, Katie hurried over to the door to pull it open. Only three of her friends were coming over tonight. Angelina had told her that she was going to George's house with him because he didn't want to do it alone. Katie didn't blame him. Lee and Alicia had both agreed to come over and to Katie's surprise, so had Oliver. She'd been a little skeptical when Ange suggested she invite him, but she listened to her friend and invited him anyway.

Mainly, this whole thing was for Alicia. She didn't have any place to go for Christmas and Katie felt bad about it. So she had decided that she would make sure Alicia knew that she could always count on her friends. They were like family anyway. Besides, it wasn't like Katie had anything to do for Christmas either. Her parents had decided to take a tour of Europe starting December first. They had invited Katie along, of course, but she had declined. Not only had her Mental Healer advised against it, but Katie didn't feel comfortable leaving England so soon after the Battle. It felt too much like running for a hard earned victory.

When Katie pulled the door open, she was greeted to the sight of the Puddlemere United Keeper. A smile climbed over her face and she quickly hugged Oliver, who was just as strong as he looked. They stayed like that for a minute. After all, it had been over a year since they'd seen each other. Honestly, Katie could say she was glad that she invited him.

"It has been far too long since I have seen my favorite Quidditch Captain," Katie said as she pulled away.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "I know that's a lie. Angelina owled me half way through the season and told me that you said she was your favorite."

"Damn it," Katie muttered as she let Oliver inside. "Well, regardless, it's still been too long since I've seen you."

"Aye, that's true, lass," he replied.

Something about the term 'lass' bothered her. It was what he'd called her at school. Katie clearly wasn't a little girl anymore, and she hated the fact that he still used a nickname from her childhood. It was stupid, she knew, but she couldn't help the feelings that rose inside her.

"Katie?" Oliver drawled.

"What?" she said, snapping out of her thoughts.

" _This_ is why I always had to yell it you in practice," he teased her. "You were always daydreaming when you should have been focusing on the game."

Katie stuck her tongue out at him before she headed into the kitchen. "What were you saying before I was _daydreaming_?"

"I asked where Angelina was," Oliver told her.

"Oh, she can't come," Katie explained. "She's going over to the Weasleys' because George didn't want to go by himself."

Oliver winced. "How is George?"

"He's. . . .better, I guess," she sighed. Katie had told her friend repeatedly that he needed to go see a Mental Healer, but he refused, saying that he was fine even though he clearly wasn't. "He's not doing great, but that's to be expected right? I just really want him to get better, you know?"

"Yeah," he replied. "What about you, Bell? What are you doing now?"

"Um, well, I'm training to be a Healer," she answered. "Don't look so surprised. I know I wanted to be a Healer in my fifth year. I changed my mind once I think, but that was it. I was going to go after my seventh year, but. . .the war. So now I'm done with my first year of training and I'll be going onto my next pretty soon."

"That's rather impressive, lass," he muttered. "What floor are you going to be on?"

"Not sure yet," she sighed. "We don't go into training for a certain floor until our third year. I haven't really decided yet."

"Well, if you ever get tired of that hospital, Puddlemere could use a good Healer."

"I'll remember that."

Just then, a timer went off and Katie spun around to pull the turkey out of the oven. Oliver swore when he saw the size of the turkey was lifting, but by the time he'd slipped around the counter, she'd already sat the turkey on the stove.

"Piece of cake," she breathed.

"You're panting," Oliver said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You could have asked me to get it out for you."

"I am very capable of doing things myself, thank you," she replied. "But if you really want to do something, then you can stir this until it's fluffy."

"How am I supposed know when it's fluffy?" Oliver asked.

"You'll know," Katie said as she went to chop up some fruit.

"How come you get the easy job?"

"Hush, I need to concentrate."

Oliver rolled his eyes, but stirred the batter anyway. Katie ended up having to tell him when it was fluffy and she laughed when Oliver told her that he actually knew how to make biscuits because his mother made him learn how to make them. Eventually, dinner is finished and Katie is rather pleased with the results.

"We did a good job," she tells Oliver.

"Does that mean I can taste it now?" he whines.

"No!" Katie exclaims. "We have to wait for Lee and Alicia!"

Just then the doorbell rings.

"How about now?"

"Oliver Wood, you touch that food and I'll make sure you never see the light of day again!"


	19. Parents: Neville and Hannah

**A/N: Hope you like!**

 _19\. Neville and Hannah, meeting her parents_

 _Summary: Neville is nervous about going to meet Hannah's parents._

Neville fidgeted with his tie. He hated wearing fancy clothes like this. Why was it so hard to fix a stupid tie? With an annoyed sound, he undid his tie and started from the beginning. For the fourth time. The reason he was so nervous was simple. He was meeting Hannah's parents for the first time tonight. This thought simply terrified him. It was funny. He had faced a bloody giant snake, but two people, who Hannah swore were the sweetest people in the world, scared him more than that snake did. Go figure.

"Neville? Are you ready yet?" Hannah asked from the living room. Annoyance was evident in her voice. He couldn't blame her; he'd been here for the past hour.

"Almost," he called.

He heard rustling in the other room then Hannah appeared in the doorway of their bedroom. With a sigh on her lips, she clumped over to him and started to fix his tie for him. Honestly, he was grateful to her. He wanted to look perfect so her parents wouldn't think he was some kind of bum.

"You know what my parents said when I told them you were coming for Christmas dinner?" Hannah asked.

"No," he replied, thinking that her father probably wasn't to happy about the fact that his daughter was dating someone anyway.

"They were so happy," she said. "Mum said that she couldn't wait to meet you and she kept asking me what your favorite dishes were. Dad was grinning from ear to ear. He said that he was glad I had finally found someone up to my high standards. Honestly, Neville, they're going to love you. Hell, they love you already and they haven't even met you. There is no way that this can end badly."

"Have you met me?" he responded. "If something can be messed up, I mess it up."

"Oh, Neville," she mumbled. "Don't say that. It's not true. Look at us. We're still together and going strong. You didn't mess us up. I think that's what counts, don't you think?"

Neville shrugged. "I just want them to like me. And. . . .it's weird. I've never really had any interaction with parents before. Mine are. . .well, they're still here, but they're not. I don't know what to say to them or how to act and I'm scared, Hannah. I don't want to screw this up."

"Oh, love," Hannah sighed as she pulled Neville into a hug. "It's ok. I. . .um, I know that your parents aren't really here anymore and I'm sorry about that. But my parents are literally the easiest people to please. I promise. They're not going to bit your head off as soon as you walk in the door. Mum's going to dote on you, and Dad's going to want to talk about everything under them moon. He's always wanted a boy, you know. Besides, they know that I love you, and that's good enough for them."

"Really?" he asked, pulling away to look at her face.

"Really."

She grabbed his hand and they Apparated to her parents' house. Nervousness gnawed at his insides as they approached the house. After squeezing his hand, Hannah opened the door to her house.

"Mum! Dad! We're here!" she called.

A loud yell came from the kitchen then hurried footsteps were sounding in the hallway before a woman with short blonde hair appeared in the doorway of the washroom.

"Oh, good! You're here," she said. "I was beginning to get worried. And this must be Neville. It's so nice to finally put a name to the face, love."

Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Neville before he could even think of anything to say. When his brain decided to start working again, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as well.

"Glenda, don't smother him!" a man's voice yelled.

Glenda, apparently, stepped back and gave Neville a bright smile, before turning back to her husband, who was a short man using a cane to walk.

"Hush, Bernie," she told him. "I'm sure Neville doesn't mind my hugs. Do you, Neville?"

"It's ok to say no," Bernie told him.

"Oh, I don't mind," he muttered.

"See?" she retorted. "Come on now. Dinner's almost ready. Hannah, be a dear and come help me won't you?"

Neville's eyes went wide as Hannah followed her mother. She kissed her father on the cheek as she passed him.

"Well, come on, son," Bernie said. "Don't want to stand there all day, do ya?" He didn't wait for a reply as he shuffled into the living room. Neville followed him meekly. "Now tell me, what do you think of Shacklebolt?"

"Sir?" he replied confused.

"Our new Minister," Bernie elaborated. "Now I don't know him very well, but the Potter boy likes him well enough. From what I've heard, he's got some big plans in mind. Not sure what they are though. You got any idea?"

"Oh, um, no."

"Well, I hope that he can do something with our ruined government. It's a sad day when a man can't put faith in his own government without having some suspicion. Well, I guess that's what you get when a terrorist runs your country for the good part of the year. What do you think of Shacklebolt?"

"Well, he's a good man," Neville answered. "I don't know him that well, but as you said Harry holds him in high regard so that's something. To be honest, I think that he'll do a pretty good job. He seems to want to help fix the Ministry any way he can and I'd vote for him."

Bernie nodded. "Well, that's true. He seems like a good man."

"Daddy, you're not boring Neville, are you?" Hannah asked sternly as she entered the room.

"Of course not," he answered. "How could I ever do that?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Mum said dinner was ready and to come and eat."

As her father shuffled into the kitchen, Hannah held Neville back.

"See they're not so scary, are they?"

"No, I suppose they're not."


	20. Moving On: Draco and Astoria

**A/N: I love this couple and I hope you like!**

 _20\. Draco and Astoria, moving on_

 _Summary: Draco and Astoria play in the snow._

Draco sat outside in his mother's rose garden. Well, he wasn't sitting so much as kneeling, but that wasn't the point. He'd been trying for the past half hour to pick the perfect rose for his girlfriend, but all he managed to get was pricked in the finger one too many times. Of course, these stupid flowers wouldn't even be alive right now if his mother hadn't insisted on using spells to make sure that they lived. Honestly, she treated them like her own children.

From the corner of his eye, he caught something moving toward him. Before he could, he had risen from his position on the ground and was on top of the person coming towards him.

"Draco!" Astoria shouted. "Get off of me!"

"Astoria?" Draco muttered, before scrambling backwards. "I'm sorry."

Astoria pushed herself off of her back, then moved to sit besides him.

"It's alright," she told him. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Draco shook his head and didn't reply. He could have hurt her. He was about go for his wand and throw the first spell that had come to his mind at her. Why did he have to take part in that stupid war? Why did he have to be so scared?

"Draco, it's fine," Astoria spoke softly. "Really. I get that you get flashbacks sometimes and I'm sorry about that. I should have known better than not to announce myself."

"You shouldn't have to announce yourself," he mumbled into his arms.

"You know I don't mind doing things like that," she sighed. "You just have to tell me what bothers you so I can help you with it. If you don't, then things like this are going to keep happening. I'm not going to leave you. I'm here for good so you might as well let your shields down."

Draco didn't respond. Astoria had told him many times that she was going to stay with him for the rest of her life, but that still didn't stop him from being doubtful. His past was a collection of horrors that never wanted to relive, but did so every night anyways. His nightmares were the worst. He saw all the tortures again—saw so many people whose eyes had gone glassy. Maybe he could have saved them. But Draco wasn't a Gryffindor. He didn't try and if he had it do over, he still wouldn't try.

"Draco, listen to me," Astoria demanded as she took his face in her hands. "You are not a bad person. Yes, you made some horrible decisions, but in the end, you would have let Harry Potter go. You may have even helped him if you were given a chance. But that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that you're here. You're alive. You made it out. Now, it's time to forgive yourself. I don't care if it takes a hundred years. You need to try. Get up and say 'yes, I've done bad things, but I deserve forgiveness'. Eventually, you'll start to believe it. Besides, it's Christmas. If you can't forgive people this time of year, then you never will."

Draco looked need into Astoria's blue eyes and couldn't help but feel his attraction toward her grow some more. She was an amazing women. No matter what, she pushed him to be a better person. When newspapers and whispers pushed him to his breaking point, she was the one to tell him that it was going to be alright—that what they were saying were lies and what was in his heart was what mattered. She reminded him that he could still be a good person if only he wanted to. It all depended on him—not what the newspapers were saying.

A smile crossed her face. "See? You just have to believe is all. I see the good in you and those Gryffindors can shove whatever they believe about you up their arses."

Draco chuckled. "They're not all Gryffindors, you know."

"Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, too."

"Astoria," he began. "You mean a lot to me. So much. I just want you to know that I don't take you for granted. I see all the amazing things you do and I love that. I don't know how you managed to see past all the blackness I have surrounding me, but you have. And I'm grateful." He hushed her when she tried to speak. "And I don't want to hear anything about how the ability to be good has always been inside me. You taught me how to be a better person—how to unlock that piece of goodness inside me—and use it. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Gently, he took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. Then her cheeks and her nose, until she giggled. Finally, he run his thumb across her lips before he replaced it with his mouth. Astoria's arms came around his waist as he held her face. A smile graced her lips as she pushed back against him. She always moved so fast and it was a challenge for Draco just to keep up. That included the way she kissed.

Her body responded to his touch like gasoline responds to fire. She light up. Quickly, she was pressing up against him and pushing her hands up his chest. Her excitement caused her name to leave his lips several times over. He found himself with his back in the snow and Astoria on top of him, not that he minded. His hands ran up her sides, looking for a nonexistent entrance into her dress. Draco growled in frustration.

Astoria smiled against his lips. "Don't rip this one."

"I won't make any promises," he replies huskily.

"Draco! Astoria! Come eat!" Narcissa Malfoy called from their manor.

Astoria rolled of Draco with a groan. "Your mother has the worst timing."

"I know," he sighed. Both of them stood up. They knew that if they lingered too long, Narcissa would start looking for them. They had to learn that hard way last time.

So they strolled hand in hand back to the Malfoy Manor.


	21. Investigation: Lucius and Narcissa

**A/N: First off, I did not see your review to chapter 19 until I posted 20, Pixie, and I'm sorry for not answering. Ok, so I headcannon that Hannah's parents are divorced and that her dad remarried when she was young so it was like she had two mums, which I forgot to mention since I was writing from Neville's point of view. Sorry about that. As for Draco and Astoria, I love them both so much, but I don't have any plans to write a story about them in the near future. Things could change though. I might end up writing something.**

 _21\. Lucius and Narcissa, investigation_

 _Summary: The war still haunts Lucius and Narcissa._

Narcissa Malfoy paced across the floors of the elegant manor that she and her husband shared. Aurors had just arrived for what was supposed to be a 'routine' investigation. Since Lucius was associated with the Death Eaters, they were to gave Aurors come and inspect their home for three consecutive years then every five years for fifteen years then every ten years after that as long as they were living. In Narcissa's opinion, these inspections were just to harass them after they were cleared of Lucius was cleared of his charge as a Death Eaters. It was absolutely absurd.

However, that didn't stop her from being scared. Right now, she was scared out of her mind because Lucius hadn't come out of his office and those Aurors were in there with him. What if they were going to take him to Azkaban? What if she was about to see her husband dragged from their house by gruff Aurors? She didn't think she could survive that. Whatever Draco had done to make Harry Potter testify on their behalf had worked, and she would go to him again if it kept her husband out of prison. She wasn't above begging.

Finally, the Aurors emerged from Lucius' office, and Narcissa breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that they weren't dragging her husband with them. She rushed into Lucius' office and slammed the door behind her. The man in question looked up startled.

"What did they say?" she asked.

"That everything was fine," he replied. "Why are you rushing about like the world's ending?"

Narcissa glared as he lit a cigar. He knew she hated that. "Well, I thought they may have found something since they were lingering in your office."

"Everything's fine," he told her. "We were just chatting. Besides there was nothing to find, Narcissa."

"Well, how I was I supposed to know that," she snapped.

Lucius snuffed out his cigar. "Cissy, come here."

Narcissa did as her husband asked and walked over to where he sat. Lucius grabbed her hand then proceeded to pull her into his lap. Narcissa only allowed this because she was upset. She would never be seen sitting in her husband's lap otherwise. Gently, Lucius kissed her pulse point.

"Nothing is going to happen to us," he muttered. "I won't let it. I promise. We are safe and you have nothing to worry about. Alright?"

She nodded, leaning into his touch. "I know, but. . . .you were almost put in jail, Lucius. I don't want you to be taken away again. I couldn't live with that. Draco would be devastated. You have no idea what it was like without you the first time. There were whispers and people weren't kind to us. I had to make sure we weren't flogged in the streets. Sometimes, I think the fear that Bella was out there was the only reason that there was no damage done to us. I don't want to go through that again."

"I know, love," Lucius mumbled. "I know and I'm sorry I got caught. But those Aurors aren't going to find anything dark in this house. Not ever again. I promise you that. I won't let them take me. We'll flee the country if we have to."

Narcissa sighed. She didn't want to leave. This was her _home_. But she would—for her husband, she would. She would gladly pack up everything she owned, put it all in a neat package which was fit for travel, and they would leave. Draco was the only thing that might stop her. Which reminded her.

"I don't like her," Narcissa stated, crossing her arms.

Lucius groaned. "Cissy, can't you pretend to like her? At least for Christmas?"

"No," she answered. "I can't. That would be lying and I try to avoid that when I can."

"It's like I like her either," he sighed. "But Draco does and I think we should let him make his own mistakes."

"I don't," Narcissa snapped. "He's my baby and that tramp is corrupting him. Do you know what I found them doing the other day? Well, I can't even say. It was so indecent. She was in his _bed_ , Lucius. _His bed_. A proper young lady wouldn't even dream of sleeping with a man before they were married."

Lucius raised his eyebrows. "Right. And I'm assuming, correct me if I'm wrong, that this doesn't apply to us?"

She slapped his chest. "That was different. We were _engaged_. That's practically married, anyways, and we weren't going to change our minds about that."

"Of course, dear, whatever you say," he mumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"Maybe there's a way to break them," Narcissa suggested brightly. "I'm sure we can come up with one. It can't be that hard."

"Narcissa," Lucius muttered darkly.

She pouted. "What? It's for his own good. She's not good enough for him. By the time he realizes that, it'll be too late. They'll be married and if he tries to divorce her, she'll take him for everything he has. So if we break up them up now, then he'll thank us later when he still has all of his money and a more appropriate wife. It's the perfect plan, Lucius. Nothing could go wrong if we do it right, which we will since we're Slytherins."

"Narcissa, we are not messing with our son's relationship," Lucius told her. "I don't care if she is a piece of trash. It's his life and he wouldn't appreciate it. And if he finds out that we did it, he'll kill us. Besides, we can always keep a good portion of money to ourselves so that when he does figure out exactly what Astoria is, she won't get much of the money."

"That's a very good plan," she muttered. "And a much less incriminating one."

"Indeed," he said, leaning up to kiss her.

Then the door opened.

"Oh, that's disgusting!" Draco shouted as he slammed the door shut.

Narcissa sighed. "He's going to be mad at us for the rest of the night."

"Unfortunately, yes."


	22. Home: Rolf and Luna

**A/N: I've never really written Luna out before so I'm sorry if this is a bit out of character for her. She's one of those characters that are really hard to write. Anyways, I hope you like.**

 _22\. Rolf and Luna, missing home_

 _Summary: Luna talks to Rolf about Christmas with her family._

Luna dug in the sand as she thought about home. She knew how deep the hole was supposed to be so she didn't really need to concentrate all that much. Once it was deep enough, she gently slid the egg inside and covered it back up. They'd been relocating these little guys for days now. Luna would never tire of helping these creature, (as of right now they didn't have a name) but she missed England terribly. She had grown used to the ache since she traveled all the time, but there were still times when it got to her.

A shadow was cast over her own. Then Rolf was kneeling down beside her.

"You do a good job," he praised her. "It's like you've been relocating them your whole life."

Luna managed to smile at him. "Thank you. I'm sure your grandfather could do a better job though."

Rolf shook his head. "My grandfather gets into enough as it is. He doesn't need to be out in the hot sun as well."

Luna nodded before letting her mind wander off. It went back to snow and laughing out in her backyard with Ginny Weasley.

"Luna," Rolf muttered, gently touching her shoulder. "Are you ok? You don't seem well today. Is it the heat? Do you need to come inside?"

Luna shook her head, her blonde curls flying back and forth. "No, I'm alright. I'm just missing home is all. That happens a lot around Christmas. Daddy used to put up different ornaments every year. They were always homemade. Before my mother passed away, it was a family thing. We'd all make decorations right before December rolled in and by the first, we'd have all of them finished. After her accident, Daddy went back to making them by himself."

Rolf nodded. "I know this can be lonely. I'm sorry you feel that way. You could go back home for a few days if you wanted. I wouldn't mind. In fact, if you wanted to, you could just go ahead and take off from the trip. You've done more in the past six months than any of my other workers have done in years. If you were going to come back all you would have to do is let me know and I'd clear a spot for you. Sometimes, we get homesick, Luna, and that's ok."

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that," she protested. "I said I was going until the end of March and I'm going to stay on until the end of March. There's no changing that, Rolf. Besides, as much as I want to go home, I love this as well. It's what I've wanted to do my whole life and now I'm doing it. I don't want to give that up. And if what you say is true, then you need all the help you can get. And I want to be here—really—it's just hard sometimes, that's all. I'll be ok."

Rolf still looked concerned, like he wasn't sure whether to believe her or not. However, in the end, his faith her seemed to win out. Luna smiled when she saw this, which caused Rolf to smile as well. Together, the continued to dig holes for the small eggs they had found. There was no need for words now. They both liked to work in silence whenever they were doing things like this. It wasn't necessarily for the creatures, though. Luna and Rolf understood that they needed to be quiet sometimes to let their minds relax and enjoy what they were doing, otherwise, it wouldn't be what they loved.

"You know," Rolf mumbled softly. "If you wanted, we could make decorations for the tree here. I wouldn't mind helping you and I'm sure some of our other members would enjoy it as well. And. . .and if you wanted to, you could invite some of your friends up for the holidays. Like that Weasley girl you're always talking about. You could ask her and some of your other friends up here so you could celebrate and then you wouldn't have to feel like you were choosing between your work and your home life."

All of this was said softly and it surprised Luna. Rolf was very serious about his work. He never let anyone who wasn't working for him within a mile of his sight. If someone tried to come in anyway, they would find that there were protective charms as well as guards who would escort them away from the premises if need be. Even his father, who Rolf loved dearly, wasn't aloud to come into the habitat. The fact that he was willing to let her friends come and stay for a bit just to make her happy warmed Luna to the core.

"Oh, Rolf, that's alright," she told him. "I know you're not found of people coming near the places you're working at so I'm not going to put you under all that stress. Besides, I don't think Ginny would like it out here anyway. It's too hot for her taste." Rolf looked extremely relieved when he heard this. "But I would like to make Christmas ornaments with you. It's a good idea and I'd love to do it. And maybe after Christmas I could go back to England for the New Year. Maybe you could come with me."

Rolf looked up and a grin split his face. "Really?"

Luna nodded. "Yes. I think my father would like you and I know Ginny would."

Rolf's grin grew wider and wider. Before Luna knew what was happening, he had leaned forward and kissed her. Luna had only been kissed a few times in her life. Once in fourth year by a Hufflepuff named Lucy; another time, after she had been on a date with a boy named Carl. Neither had felt like this. Rolf kissed her gently, but it still felt wild at the same time—untamed like the creatures that they loved so much.

Finally he pulled away.

"I'd like that very much."


	23. Kiss: Teddy and Victoire

**A/N: Vic is seven in this while Teddy is nine.**

 _23\. Teddy and Victoire, first kiss_

 _Summary: Teddy is roped into something he doesn't want to do._

"Come on, Teddy!" Victoire shouted as she ran out into the backyard of the Burrow. Snow was falling for the first time and Victoire couldn't help but giggle. Teddy is still pulling on his coat as he runs out the door. He wouldn't have even bothered with one if Harry hadn't insisted. He always came to the Burrow for Christmas and it was his favorite part of Christmas, too. Not to mention, he got to see his best friend, Victoire. Normally, he didn't like girls very much, but Victoire was different. She was actually fun.

Victoire was already making her snow angel by the time Teddy arrived. As soon as he reached her, he dropped to his butt and started making his own snow angel. While this wasn't his favorite part of playing in the snow, it was Victoire's. Since she liked it so much, he put up with the silliness of it for her. After all, that was the polite thing to do, and his grandmother said that he should always be polite to girls.

"Teddy," Victoire said as she carefully climbed out of her snow angel. "We need to build a snowman."

He nodded. "Yeah, we do. You can make the head and I'll start on the body."

"Why do you get to make the body?" she demanded to know.

"Because last time you made the body, it looked lopsided," he told her, none too gently.

"It was not!" Victoire protested. "He was the most beautiful snowman you've ever seen!"

"He fell over before we even put the head on!" Teddy exclaimed.

Victoire apparently didn't deem this worthy of a response because she headed off to make the head. Satisfied, Teddy went to work on the body. Of course, his was much better than Victoire's, even if she wouldn't admit it. Naturally, by the time she was done making the head perfectly round, Teddy had finished making the other two pieces. Being the gentlemen that he was, he didn't gloat about this fact—at least not out loud. After Teddy had placed his pieces together, he and Victoire both lifted the head into place. Their snowman was almost finished.

"Do you see any rocks?" Teddy asked.

"Do you see the ground?" Victoire retorted.

Teddy glared at her. "Fine, then help me find some."

So Teddy and Victoire dug through the freezing snow to find some rocks for their snowman's eyes and mouth. It felt like two hours before they found enough stones to complete his face, but it was more like fifteen minutes. Once his face was complete, Teddy broke two branches from Ms. Molly's rose bushes to use as arms. (He didn't thinks she would mind.) Finally, their snowman was complete.

"He looks good," Teddy said.

"Well I think that his mouth could have been-"

"Yep, he's the best snowman in the world," Teddy interrupted her.

Before she could retort, Ms. Molly's voice rang out.

"Come on, you two! It's time to eat!"

Quickly, the two ran back to the house, both of them eager to get a taste of Molly Weasley's cooking. Once they were inside the house, they stripped out of their wet coats and sodden boots. Teddy headed into the kitchen while Victoire went into the living room to talk to the adults. The most amazing smell hit his nose when he entered the room.

"What's for supper?" he asked Ms. Molly.

"A bunch of different things," the older lady told the nine-year-old. "But you better save room for desert."

"Oh, I will," Teddy replied. Whenever he came over to the Burrow, he always made sure that he had room for the best desert in the world.

Excited for deserted, he made his way into the living room from the side exit. When he reached said room, he found Victoire in quite a predicament. She was standing under the mistletoe with an annoyed look on her face.

". . .you know what that means, don't you, Vic?" Ginny was saying. "You can't move until you get a kiss."

"I know how it works," Victoire replied primly.

"Well, I suppose we should get this over with," Bill said, rising from his seat.

"Daddy, you can't do it," Victoire told him. "We're related. It's the rules."

Bill looked amused. "Oh, well, then who is going to do it?"

"Teddy, of course."

"What?!" Teddy exclaimed. "I'm not kissing you! You're a girl!"

This seemed to amuse everyone, but Teddy didn't think it was funny at all. He wasn't about to kiss a girl. Victoire was great and all, but that didn't change the fact that she was still gross. All girls were, after all. It was nothing against Victoire.

"I am not kissing you," he stated, crossing his arms. "You can forget about it."

Fred, who was now two, decided to chime in. "Girls, yucky."

"See?" Teddy said, pointing at the toddler who sat in his father's arms. "Even a baby knows that you're not supposed to kiss girls."

Victoire glared at him. "It's the rules, Teddy. You can't _change_ them!"

Teddy glared right back at her before turning to Harry. Surely, Harry could save him from this mess. After all, if anyone could bend the rules, it was The Boy Who Lived. If someone like Harry couldn't fix this, then what was the point of knowing famous people?

Harry shrugged, a playful smirk tugging on his lips. "Rules are rules, bud."

Teddy sputtered at Harry's answer, while Victoire looked smug. Annoyance seemed into Teddy's veins. Why did she always have to be right? Wasn't that Aunt Hermione's job? Or maybe that was just what Uncle Ron said.

"Fine," he muttered before marching across the room. In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of Victoire with a nervousness pitted in his stomach. Quick as a flash, he reached down and kissed her. Then he turned and marched toward the bathroom. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go and wash my mouth out with soap now!"

He didn't think anyone heard him though, because they were all laughing.


	24. Mission: James and Alice

**A/N: Hope you enjoy!**

 _24\. James and Alice, Auror mission_

 _Summary: James is annoyed with Alice._

James sighed as he leaned back against the couch. It had been a very long day. He and Alice had gotten up early to watch Paul Devony, the man who his father had assigned them to watch. He supposedly ran an underground Hippogriff fighting establishment, but James and Alice had yet to find anything usual about him. At least, not until today.

They followed him as usual, but today he had a Portkey to Paris. Thankfully, Alice and James were able to procure a Portkey for themselves since they were Aurors. They'd followed him around Paris for the next twelve hours. It was almost midnight before they got in and they still hadn't found anything useful. James honestly thought that this whole mission was the stupidest idea his father ever had. If it weren't for Alice insisting that they try for a bit more, he'd have called it quiets already. Speaking of Alice. . . .

"James, you look like the world has ended," she muttered.

"It has," he replied. "I'm stuck in Paris on Christmas because you won't believe that this old man is a perfectly safe person. Not the one who's running the underground Hippogriff fighting ring."

Alice glared at him. "You want to go home because you and Fred host some party around this time of year."

"I know!" he shouted. "Why do you think I wanted to go home?"

Alice rolled her eyes before walking back into the kitchen, leaving James to pout. It was not like they were getting anywhere with this case so what was the point of continuing to work on it? It was a waste of everyone's time. The funds that the Auror department was using toward this could be put toward stopping an actual criminal rather than a man who like to travel.

However, James knew that this case was important to Alice.

"Ally! He called. "Come here!"

Alice appeared in the doorway. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I know this case is important to you so I'm sorry for being insensitive."

She smiled and came to sit down next to him. Alice and James were close—very close since they had grown up together. He remembered when they were kids and used to play hide and seek together with Fred. Those were the days, he had to admit. They were much better than sitting in this bloody apartment.

So James threw his arm around Alice's shoulder and she snuggled into his side.

"Thanks, James," she said softly.

"For what?" he replied.

"For doing this for me," she answered. "For sticking with this when anyone else would have walked out the door by now. You're one of my best friends and I really appreciate that. I appreciate you."

James shrugged. "It's alright, Ally. Besides, it's not like I don't want to find out who is running this thing. I do. It's just, I don't think this is our guy. That's all. Just a difference of opinion."

Alice sighed. "I know."

There was silence after that. Alice and James let the minutes tick by quietly as they both let their minds wonder to different places. Or in James' case, he tried not to let his mind wonder to certain places. It wasn't his fault that Alice was so pretty. It certainly wasn't his fault that her breast were pressed into his side and he could feel everything through the fabric. Or that she was wearing pajama shorts that showed off her shapely legs. Or that her hair framed her face perfectly. But maybe it was his fault that they let that get to him, or rather, to a certain part of his body.

Quickly, he shifted to hide the evidence of his reaction to her.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked him as she gazed at his face.

"Yep, perfectly fine," he replied, forcing a grin onto his face.

Alice had been doing this to him for a while now. She triggered reactions in him that no one else did. Sure anyone could give him a boner, but she gave him butterflies in his stomach whenever smiled at him. Or when she laughed, his heart filled with happiness, just knowing that she was happy.

"Jamie," she mumbled sleepily. "Why are you so quiet?"

"No reason," he told her. "Just thinking."

"That's never a good thing."

Her eyes opened and she blinked sleepily at him. She had the cutest look in the world on her face and James wanted to kiss her so badly. Looking back he never knew how he actually ended up kissing her is still a mystery to him. All he knew was that he was thinking about kissing her and the next thing he was. Alice always told him he had leaned down to kiss her, but he never remembered it.

What he did remember was Alice leaning into him as her hand crawled up his chest until it found its way to the back of his neck. The arm that wasn't around Alice already slipped down to her waist to tug her closer to him. Ever so gently, Alice pressed her tongue against the seem of his lips, asking for access to his mouth, which he granted her. Her tongue swept into his mouth only to tease him as she quickly pulled it away. Never in his life had he dreamed that he would be kissing Alice Longbottom.

"James," she whispered against his lips.

"Hmm?"

She kissed down his throat. "What took you so long?"

James jerked back in shock. "What do you mean 'what took you so long'?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "I've wanted you to kiss me since we were seventeen. What took you so long?"

James glared at her. "Well that would have been nice to know." He pouted. "I don't know why women have to be so complicated. You couldn't have just said that you wanted to be kissed instead of waiting?"

Alice giggled. "I was only kidding, James."

He grumbled under his breath before he resumed what he was doing a few moments ago.


	25. Together: Scorpius and Lily

**A/N: Last chapter, guys! Hope you enjoyed!**

 _25\. Scorpius and Lily, together_

 _Summary: Scorpius and Lily talk about her boyfriends._

Lily marched up the stairs to the flat that housed her brother and his best friend. She was through annoyed with her boyfriend—no wait, ex-boyfriend. Lily can't even remember why she liked a douche like Ryan in the first place. Sadly, when she stormed out of their flat, she didn't think about retrieving any of her things. Now she didn't wanted to go back to go back to get some of her things because she didn't want to talk to Ryan again. Some Christmas this was shaping up to be.

Without knocking, she opened the door to the boys' flat and walked inside. She was met with the end of Scorpius Malfoy's wand. Her eyes widened before they meet those gray eyes she is so knew so well. Scorpius lowered his wand and breathed deeply.

"Don't you know that you don't just walk into an Auror's home?" he mumbled, pinching his nose in between his thumb and forefinger.

"I do now," she replied. "Why are you so jumpy?"

"I'm an Auror," Scorpius said. "I'm supposed to be jumpy. What are you doing here this late, anyway? I thought you'd be with Ryan since it's Christmas Eve."

"Don't ever say his name again," Lily growled. "We're through."

"Right."

"Where's Al?"

"Last minute mission."

Lily went past the kitchen and into her brother's bedroom to retrieve one of his shirts. Once she'd stripped out of her clothes and into her new pajamas, she went back into the living room to find Scorpius pulling things out of the fridge.

"Want something to eat?" he asked.

"Yes, actually," she said, hopping up on a stool. Once everything is heated up, Scorpius hands her a plate.

"So what you're ex do?" he asked.

"What didn't he do?" she muttered darkly. "He's a douche."

"Yeah, I gathered that from the first time I met him."

Lily glared at him, but he only laughed at her. Scorpius had never bee put off by her glares and rough exterior. Most people assumed she was as tough as nails since that was the way she acted. And she was for the most part. She didn't let the words that were whispered wherever she went get to her, nor did she care if her love life was splayed across every newspaper in Britain. But she had her insecurities, too. Scorpius was one of the few people who got to see them.

"You don't have to rub my face in it," she mumbled.

"I just don't know why you date the boys who are going to treat you like dirt," Scorpius sighed.

"They don't treat me like dirt because I don't let them," Lily corrected him.

"Fine," he gave in. "But they don't treat you like you deserve to be treated."

Lily shrugged. It wasn't like she was with them because they were going to treat her like 'she should be treated'. She was with them because they were fun. She was too young to find 'the one', in her opinion. At least, she didn't want to find that person this young; she didn't want to be like Roxanne, who was practically married already.

"That's not what I'm looking for," she told him.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and went to get something out of the fridge. Lily got up and put her plate in the sink. As she turned around, she found herself nearly squished between Scorpius and the counter. He was just as surprised as she was, judging from the look on his face. There was barely an inch of space in between them. A warm feeling pooled in Lily's stomach, and she wanted to kick herself. This was her brother's best friend; she wasn't supposed to feel this way about him.

As Scorpius went to stepped back, Lily wrapped an arm around his neck and brought him down to her height. Their lips met and Lily nearly cried. Why was he so perfect? Her other arm came up and around his neck as his hands found her waist. Most men went for her hips, so his touch to her waist surprised her. She had to remind herself that Scorpius was raised to be the perfect gentlemen. As great as that was, Lily didn't want a gentlemen right now.

"Scor," she muttered against his lips and pressed her body against his. This earned her a growl as he lifted her onto the counter. Her hands went to his platinum hair and tugged roughly at it.

"Lily," Scorpius sighed, as he kissed her neck. "We need to stop."

"Why?" she replied, smirking. "You don't want to."

"You're going to regret this."

"Nope. I'm not."

Sunlight hit Lily's eyes as she blinked them open. The room was familiar yet strange to her. Then she registered the sound of deep breathing behind her and the events of the previous night slipped into her mind. A smile slipped over her face as she traced small circles on Scorpius' hand.

Lily never let herself get close to a boy emotionally. She always kept herself at a distance and was never bothered when those boys left her because she wouldn't open up to them. With Scorpius, it was different. She already knew him on a deep personal level so there would be no hiding from him if she decided to continue this with him. The more she thought about it, the less scary it seemed.

Gently, she turned over only to find that Scorpius was already awake.

"Hi," she muttered.

"Morning," he replied, burying his face in her neck. A smile broke out on Lily's face and she kissed his cheek.

"See? I told you I wouldn't regret this."

"Shut up."

"Scorpius! Next time you bring a girl over, make sure you don't leave her knickers in the floor," Albus called from the hallway.

Lily and Scorpius both froze as they listened to Albus' footsteps grow closer before they turned into his room and his door shut.

"He's going to be pissed," Scorpius whispered.

"Yep," Lily agreed.


End file.
